He's With Me
by disneygirl95
Summary: Gabriella's crush on Troy never went anywhere. But what happens when Troy needs her to be his pretend girlfriend? Can she show him that they're meant to be…for real? TxG
1. Trailer

**Title: He's With Me**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: ****Gabriella's crush on Troy never went anywhere. But what happens when Troy needs her to be his pretend girlfriend? Can she show them that they're meant to be… for real? TxG**

**Disclaimer: Based off of Tamara Summer's book, "He's With Me." It's a really good book. Oh, and I also don't own High School Musical, that belongs to Kenny Ortega. **

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_**He's With Me Trailer**_

**Gabriella's longtime crush on Troy has never gone anywhere**

_Shows Gabriella with a disappointed look on her face_

**But when Teen Queen Brenda sets her sight on Troy**

_Dear Troysie,_

_Have you ever wondered what it would be like to date the most popular girl in school? I bet you have….Well, it's your lucky summer. I have decided that I need a boyfriend and here are the reasons why we would be a perfect couple…I'll meet you tomorrow at the front gate of Summerlodge so we can make an entrance together. Then I'll also quickly point out to you the rules of dating Brenda. How awesome will that be? _

_Kisses, _

_Brenda_

"The rules to dating Brenda?"

**He has come up with a way to turn her down**

"Tell her you're dating Gabriella."

**And a plan is hatched: Gabriella can pretend to be Troy's girlfriend**

"Hey, girlfriend."

**But Gabriella has never had a real boyfriend, let alone a pretend one.**

_I always thought that my first boyfriend would be Troy. But I never thought that it would be pretend…_

**Can she manage to convince everyone she's Troy's girlfriend?**

_Shows Gabriella giving Troy cupcakes_

**And then convince Troy that their meant to be… for real?**

_Shows Gabriella hugging Troy getting him all wet_

**Starring Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez**

"Okay, so here are the rules of pretend dating Gabi."

**Zac Efron as Troy Bolton**

"Where my girlfriend goes, I go too."

**Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans**

"Aww, I wish my boyfriend would do that for me."

**Corbin Bleu as Chad Montez**

"So, what's the new crisis, Troy?"

**Brittany Snow as Brenda McKennis**

"She needs to be taught a lesson. No one ever steals from Brenda."

**And Lucas Grabeel as Riley Atkinson**

"Gabriella, why don't you like me?"

**In "He's With Me"**

**Coming to a Computer Near You**

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**I got this plot from the book "He's With Me" by Tamara Summers. What did you think of the trailer? Should I continue the story? Review and let me know. **


	2. Until You're Mine

**Disclaimer: I own nothing…except the High School Musical DVD and soundtrack… oh, and a copy of the book, "He's With Me" other than that, nothing.

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_**He's With Me - Chapter One  
Until You're Mine**_

Gabriella Montez hated bikinis.

At age seventeen, she thought she already had too many curves in to many places, and she didn't like people staring at her. Putting on a bikini made her feel like Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl even when she was just standing alone in the Macy dressing room.

She glared at the box on her bed. The box _looked_ like a present, when in reality there was a wine-red monstrosity. There was a note card on top of the shiny gold wrapping paper which read, "FOR GABI! IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT SUMMER!" in her mother's perky handwriting.

Gabriella didn't even pull it out before she realized what it was and stuffed it back in the box, not daring to open it again.

_Seriously, mom? Seriously?_

The other box was even more mysterious. She could tell that it had a large, long, flat shape that wasn't a book, or even an Amazon gift certificate. She was hoping that it would be a sundress, one where she could wear _over_ the bikini.

Instead, it was a tennis racket.

Gabriella did not play tennis. She had never played tennis in her whole life. This was very ominous. Gabriella was standing near the edge of her bed when her mother appeared in the doorway.

"Isn't it _great_?" Mrs. Montez said happily, "I made sure your father got the best one. Is it light enough for you?"

"Umm," Gabriella started but she didn't have to finish that sentence when her brother, Chad, came in through the doorway. Chad was ten months older than her; therefore, he was a senior in high school, unlike Gabriella, who was a junior. Chad slouched against the door frame. He didn't look too happy.

Gabriella's mom sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the bikini out from the box. She straightened it out. "Look, I know you don't like bikinis but this one is for Summerlodge,"

"The day camp? I thought Chad and I were doing the art program at school," Gabriella put on a confused face.

"Turns out the program was full. So you'll be doing tennis instead. Won't that be fun? It's also close enough for you to bike too, since you haven't gotten your license yet. That'll make it easier for me and your dad."

"Oh, _no, _Mom, I _hate_ tennis,"

"You don't know that you hate tennis, dear, you've never tried it."

"Then what's _that_ for? I don't have to wear that while playing tennis, do I?" said Gabriella, pointing at the bikini.

"There's a pool at Summerlodge. One of the activities after tennis is swimming. Which I thought you would like. You like swimming, don't you?"

_I do like swimming, _Gabriella thought, _I just like to prefer to do it fully clothed, thank you very much. _

"Lucky you already know how to tennis," Gabriella said, turning to Chad. Tennis had been one of Chad's brief obsessions, so he took classes long enough to be a decent player. "At least you'll definitely look cooler than me with one of these," she swung the racket and it slipped out from her hand.

Mrs. Montez sighed, "Well, that's the thing, Chad's not going with you," Gabriella was horrified. She and Chad always did stuff together. That's the thing about having a brother not much older than you, you never had to go anywhere by yourself.

"Mom, that's not fair! Why does he get to stay home and play video games while I have to go out and look like an idiot all by myself."

"We decided that Summerlodge is not what Chad need right now. Besides, it'll be good for you. You'll get to meet new friends beside your brother." Mrs. Montez stood up.

Gabriella used to have a friend beside Chad: Taylor McKessie, her best friend through all of elementary school. But Taylor had moved to China the year before, leaving Gabriella alone all by herself without anyone except her brother.

"No, I won't, mom. I'll be the only one I know there. No one will talk to me and it'll be so awful; please don't make me go without Chad."

"You'll know someone else, Troy is going to the Summerlodge too," said Chad, finally chiming in.

_Thump-thump. _Gabriella felt her heart jump and bang into her rib cage. Okay, that did make a difference.

Troy Bolton was Chad's best friend. Although, they weren't pretty much alike. Chad Montez was outgoing, loud, and just a guy who got obsessed over funny things like stamp collecting and filmmaking. Troy, on the other hand, was an adorable, smart, funny guy, and, as far as Gabriella could tell, every girl in East High wanted to date him.

But Gabriella's crush on Troy was different from everyone else's. _It just was. _Those girls liked him the way you like a movie star, but Gabriella liked the real him. She knew why Troy was friends with Chad. She was there the day it happened.

_Flashback_

_Troy Bolton was first seen walking down the halls of East High in the middle of his sophomore year of high school. He practically made girls swoon down the hall. In Algebra 2 that day, Mr. Stone split Chad and Gabriella up and made Troy sit in the middle of them. The class was for people of all grade, whether in they were in their freshman year or their senior. _

_Gabriella kept looking at Chad, trying to pass a slip of paper to him. But no way, was she going to risk it by passing a note to a stranger. The third time she looked over, she noticed that Chad was watching Troy's hands. Troy was folding a piece of paper over and over again, twisting it around every so often. The siblings both stared at him until; suddenly there was a small origami whale that could easily fit into your palm on his desk. _

_Troy took out a marker from his backpack and quickly drew eyes and a smiley face on the whale. Then he looked up and caught Gabriella smiling at it. She quickly looked away. When she glanced down again, she noticed the whale was now sitting on the corner of her desk, beaming at her. _

_After class, she was gathering up her books. She saw Chad lean over towards Troy. "Hey," he said. "that was cool. It's origami, right? Can you make other stuff too?" Gabriella knew Chad must be interested. Chad hardly ever talked to strangers. But once Chad started talking, it was pretty hard to get him to stop. _

"_A few other stuff. My dad taught me. I can show you if you want," Troy answered. _

"_Sure! How about Saturday? You could come over for lunch." Chad said. _

"_Don't you want to know my name before I come over to your house?" Troy asked with a cute smile._

"_The dork's Chad." Gabriella spoke up, "and I'm Gabi."_

_Chad rolled his eyes, "short for Gabriella," _

"_I'm Troy. Saturday would be great!" Troy said. _

_End Flashback_

Troy and Chad were great friends. Whenever Chad found a new hobby, Troy read up on it. Troy could have probably ditched them for a more popular crowd if he wanted to, but he liked Chad's strange interests. So she knew the real Troy, just like she knew the real Chad. She thought of her front door like an enchanted mirror, when Troy and Chad walked through it, they became their real selves.

_Here_ Chad talked as much as he wanted to.

_Here_ Troy thought she was funny.

_Here_ Gabi could imagine that maybe one day, Troy would look at her and see the girl of his dreams, not just his best friend's sister.

She still had the whale. Locked up in a shoebox in her closet. With all the other stuff she received from Troy.

And nobody knew how she felt, not even Chad, who knew every other single detail of her life and every thought that ever crossed her mind. Suddenly Gabriella heard the doorbell ring.

"That's Troy," Chad said. "He called and said he had some major problem and needed our advice."

"Probably another girl crisis," Gabriella said. Troy was always having girl crises. –either someone wanted to date him, or there was someone he wanted to date, or his girlfriend freaked out because he wasn't the 100 percent boyfriend she had been expecting.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Gabriella called out to Chad. Her mother and brother had left the room. She went over to the mirror and put on the necklace that Troy had bought her for her birthday this past November. She always wore it around him, for good luck. She brushed her long brown hair. She went downstairs and found Troy and Chad in the basement. They were just hanging around as Chad was trying to fix the zoom on his camera. When Gabriella walked in, Troy threw open his arms and went, "Gabi!" in an excited, dramatic voice.

That was their new joke. During the previous week, Chad had asked them to film a scene for his camera. Troy started doing everything over-the-top and melodramatic, and Gabi followed along. They thought of this as the most hilarious thing ever but Chad didn't think it was quite so funny.

"Troy!" Gabriella cried with the same excitement in her voice.

"Oh, shut up." Chad said.

Troy held up his hand and Gabi high-fived it. As he walked back to the couch, Gabriella curled up her fingers in a ball, holding the warm tingly feeling he had left behind.

"So what's the new crisis, Troy?" Chad asked.

"It's the end of the world," Troy cried.

"Why?" Gabi asked. As far as she knew Troy had been single for a few months now, ever since Amy had dumped him for not calling her everyday.

"Brenda McKennis," said Troy.

Gabriella's heart sank. Brenda McKennis was the classic popular girl. Blonde, Beautiful, and Mean. If Troy had fallen for her, Gabriella didn't stand a chance with him.

"Brenda McKennis? Isn't she totally out of your league? Like really, really popular?" Chad asked.

"Sadly, apparently not. She wants to date me. Maybe she sees kind of a untapped popularity potential in me. If so, I vote for tapping it. It can stay right where it is, thanks."

"_Brenda_ wants to go out with _you_?" Chad said.

Gabriella was relieved but she didn't appreciate Chad's tone of voice. _Who wouldn't want to go out with Troy? _

"Yup. She informed me in this email," Troy said as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Gabriella.

_Troysie,_

_Did you ever wonder what it was like to date the most popular girl in school? I bet you have. I could tell you were thinking about it when I got lemonade for you at my sister's graduation. You were thinking, "If only Brenda would only date me," Well. It's your lucky summer. I have decided that I need a boyfriend and here are the reasons why we would be the perfect couple._

_1. Our heights would match perfectly._

_2. We'll both be at the Summerlodge this summer._

_3. We're both cute and popular_

_4. And so we'll be like the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Summerlodge. _

_I imagine that this feels like winning the lottery. Not that I'd notice if I did, since I am already rich, but I'm guessing for you it does. I'll meet you tomorrow at the front gates of Summerlodge, so we can make an entrance together. Then I'll quickly point out to you the rules of dating Brenda. How awesome will this be?_

_Kisses,  
Brenda_

"Oh, _Troysie, _how can you resist?" Gabriella said, passing the note to Chad.

"I know," Troy said, "It's better than winning the lottery. It's like winning the lottery, falling down a well and being vomited on by a llama all at the same time."

Gabi laughed. "So is she going to play tennis too at the Summerlodge?" _Lord, please don't let her be in the Beginner Class with me._

"No, she's working at the pool – training to be a lifeguard. So hopefully we won't see her that much."

Chad flattened out the printed email and videotaped it. "This is crazy," Chad said, "I didn't know girls did stuff like this."

"This is Brenda McKennis we're talking about. She could do anything she wants to do." Troy groaned. "I'm doomed. Doomed for life."

"Why don't you just say 'no'?" Chad asked.

"I can even answer that. Nobody says no to Brenda McKennis," Gabriella answered.

"All right, tell her you already have a girlfriend," Chad said.

"Like long-distance? I don't think she'll buy that. Plus it's only been a week since school ended. Where could I have picked up a girlfriend in a week?" Troy asked.

"I don't know," Chad answered, "Tell her you're dating Gabriella."

"As if-," Gabriella said, at the same time Troy said,

"Well, I," and they both stopped.

"What were you going to say?" asked Troy.

"Um, just…as if she's going to believe that,"

"Why?" asked Chad.

"Well, if Brenda's out of your league, then I'm in another solar system, aren't I?" Gabriella asked.

"Actually, it might work," Troy said

"Sure it will," Chad said. "Gabi is going to be at the Summerlodge too, with you and Brenda. And it's only for a little while, until Brenda gets over you. And it's not like there's no one Gabi wants to date, so you're hardly putting a dent in her love life, right Gabi?"

_That's nice. Thanks, Chad. _

"So what do you say, Gabi? Want to be my pretend girlfriend?" Troy asked. His eyes were like storm clouds, big, unstoppable, and irresistible.

"Okay," Gabriella said, suddenly feeling a little dizzy.

"You're my knight in shining armor," Troy got up and kneeled on the couch next to her, "My hero, my warrior princess," he pressed a hand to her heart, "My King Kong." She could feel her heart beating faster within every second.

"Okay, here are the rules of pretend dating Gabi. You need to _stop _comparing me to a giant gorilla," She said.

"What are the other rules?" Troy asked.

"That's the only one so far," she said, "I'll keep you posted if other ones come up." She looked back from the doorway. "Coming, Troy?"

"You bet," Troy said, standing up and stretching, "Where my girlfriend goes, I go too."

Gabriella shivered.

_I always thought my first boyfriend would be Troy. But I never thought it would only be pretend…_

_**Until you're mine  
I have to find  
A way to fill this hole inside  
I've got to fight  
Without you here by my side  
Until you're mine  
Not gonna be even close to complete  
I won't rest until you're mine  
-Demi Lovato, "Until You're Mine"**_

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**_**First Chapter… Finished!! I'm probably not going to be updating that fast because I'm going on vacation for two weeks. Unless I finish the next chapter by Thursday. Review! And I'll try my best to get the next chapter up by the time I go on vacation across the country. (I live in the U.S.A.) **


	3. Girlfriend

**Okay, first off, I would like to say thanks for all those who reviewed. Thanks!!! (give you a virtual hug) Also, I'm so sorry for posting this up so late… I've been really busy. And for those wondering how Chad and Gabriella got to be siblings. I honestly don't know. I just thought it would be better to use someone from the movie than to create a new character. Let's just say that Gabriella looks a lot like her mom and Chad looks like his dad. **

**Dedication: This chapter was dedicated to all who reviewed in the last one.**

**Disclaimer: Come on, we all know I don't own the movie but if I owned High School Musical, Troy and Gabriella would have kissed in the first movie. ;)

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_**He's With Me – Chapter Two  
Girlfriend**_

The next morning, Gabriella was sitting on the front porch, tracing shapes in the dew with her sneaker. She saw Troy's car appear at the end of the block. She jumped and checked if she had her tennis racket.

"Bye," Chad said from the doorway. One of their pugs, Thorn, pressed his nose against the window and made a sad noise. "Have fun."

"Yeah, right. You're the one who's going to have fun. I wish I could stay home all day,"

Chad nodded and looked down to the ground. Mrs. Montez came up behind them and opened the door. Thorn trotted out and pressed his nose to Gabi's ankle.

"Are you wearing enough sunscreen, Gabi? Do you need more?" she asked.

"Yes mom. I am wearing enough sunscreen to cover the whole population of Australia. I think I'll survive the sun; I think it's the pain and humiliation I'll receive that you have to worry about."

"Hey Montez family!" Troy said from the driver seat of the car, "Ready to go, Gabi?"

"Sure," she said. She climbed into the passenger seat and waved out the window after putting her tennis racket in the trunk. "Bye Chad."

"Bye." Chad went back into the house. Mrs. Montez stayed on the porch, waving, until the car wasn't in sight anymore as it blended with the trees.

Gabi had hardly had any sleep last night. What was going to happen that day? What did being a pretend girlfriend mean? What would she have to do? Who would Troy tell? What would people think? She had no idea how to act around a real boyfriend, let alone a pretend one.

The wind whipped her hair back from her face, due to the window being open, as they coasted down the hill to the stop sign. She could see Troy sneaking glances at her every now and then. As they paused at the corner, Troy put his hand on top of hers. She wanted him to leave it there, but she didn't want to seem obvious about wanting him to leave it there.

"Gabi," he said. Oh, how she loved how he said her name. "Are you okay? You look nervous."

"Well," she said, "you know, tennis. Sports and me, bad combination." _Can you be more of a bigger dork? _

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to. It's okay. I'll find another way to get rid of Brenda."

"Oh, that? I'm not worried about that. It's just tennis. Seriously. Just nerve-racking tennis." _Oh, and maybe the fact that I'm alone with Troy. No Chad. Just me and Troy._

Summerlodge was down a winding road through pine trees. The camp had a pool, tennis and basketball courts, sport fields, and a large barn for inside activities when it rained. As they coasted into the parking lot, Gabi spotted a thin, tan figure in white shorts and a fitted white baby tee leaning against the big Summerlodge sign.

"Uh-oh," Troy muttered.

"I thought you told her. Didn't you write her an email?"

"I did. She didn't right back. Maybe she didn't get it."

Gabi felt an anvil of cold dread settle in her stomach. She'd spent so much time thinking of how to pretend to be Troy's girlfriend that she hadn't thought about what Brenda McKennis would do to her. Stealing Brenda's chosen boyfriend – that definitely didn't qualify as staying under her radar.

"Just ignore her." Troy whispered. They got out of the car and just when Gabi was about to slam the car door, she heard clinking of Brenda's high-heeled sandals coming closer, as if an elegant angel of death was approaching.

"Hi Troy," Brenda said in her sultry voice. Gabi always thought that Brenda was too skinny to have a voice so low, but it made her sound like an old-time movie star. It also made her sound bored all the time. That, or she really was that bored.

"Hey Brenda," Troy said. _How could he sound so casual? _"This is Gabriella, my girlfriend."

Gabi's hands were shaking, but she managed to close the car door. Brenda McKennis was studying her with narrow blue eyes. Her hair was pale, shiny blonde and perfectly straight, cut in a close bob so that a sharp wing of hair hung down on each side of her face. She kept pushing it back with one long, tan manicured hand. Brenda loved to wear white to show off her tan and she seemed to stay that color all year long. Chad was convinced that it was fake, and that she went to a salon, or used some product.

"Gabriella Montez," Brenda said slowly, "I've seen you before." She narrowed her eyes even more. "I thought you moved away in elementary school.

_Nope. I just got quieter and better at staying out of your way. _

"Guess not." Troy said, when Gabi didn't say anything. "Lucky for me." He went over to the back of the car and opened the trunk, taking out Gabi's tennis racket. Brenda leaned against the back of Troy's car, watching like a snake poised to strike. Gabi could barely breathe. _Could Brenda tell they were just pretending? What should she do if she did figure it out? _

Behind them, a car pulled up.

"Howdy-doo, Gabi!" a voice called out, and Gabi winced. It was Mrs. Evans, her mother's friend. The Evans' had moved to town a year before, and Mrs. Evans worked with Mrs. Montez at the library. At first, Gabi's mom had been convinced that Mrs. Evans's daughter Sharpay would be a perfect best friend for Gabriella. But Sharpay was too cool for Gabriella. Brenda had hatched on to her from day one, so now Sharpay was one of the most popular girls in school.

Gabi waved toward Mrs. Evans as Sharpay got off the car and bounced over to Troy's car. She had perfect wavy blonde hair. And although she was short, like Gabriella, she always looked long and graceful. She was wearing bright clean tennis whites, and Gabi glanced down at her khaki shorts, and red T-shirt.

"Hey Brenda," Sharpay said as she came up.

"Sharpay, you're wearing white," Brenda said with disapproval in her voice.

"Well yeah, they're tennis whites; that's the idea."

"White is _my_ color."

"Don't worry, your Highness. My bathing suit is green. By the time I get in the pool no one will know I was so out of line."

Brenda sniffed, "Sally, you remember Jake? Well this is his girlfriend."

Sharpay squinted at Gabriella. "No way, I didn't know you two were dating."

Gabriella suddenly had this horrible realization that if Sharpay knew, Mrs. Evans would know, and then Gabi's mom would know before she had time to get home. But it was too late to do anything about it now.

"Um, yeah," Gabi said, "it's new."

"Really?" Brenda said, rolling her _r_. "When did you guys get together?"

"Last Wednesday," Troy said.

"Friday," Gabi said at the same time.

Brenda's eyebrows shot up.

"I asked her on Wednesday," Troy said, quickly, "but she didn't say yes until Friday."

"Oh, how cute," Brenda said in a tone that sounded more like "oh, how repulsive."

"How did he ask you?" Sally said. She seemed a lot more interested that Brenda. "Was it adorable? Or was it just weird?"

_Hmm, I think I'll have to go with weird._

"You know, I just asked her," Troy said, probably sensing Gabi's panic. "We should go on in, shouldn't we?" He stepped forward but Brenda stopped him with one hand on his chest.

"Oh, _boys,_" she said in a teasing, aren't-we-all-friends-here way. "They never care about the details. To get the real story, you have to ask the girl. Right, Gabi? So tell us all the details. I want to hear every single thing."

"It's totally boring," Troy said. "And we're going to be late."

"We have a few minutes," Brenda said resting her other hand on his arm so both hands were holding him in place. "Unless there's some reason you don't want her to tell the story, Troysie."

Troy and Gabi exchanged glances. Hers said, _She totally knows we're lying_. His said, _HELP! What do we do?_

Gabriella took a deep breath. Well, she had imagined Troy asking her out thousands of times. She could describe the perfect scene pretty easily.

"Um," she said, "It was a Wednesday night. I decided to walk Alanna and Thorn – those are our dogs - to the park on the corner. When I came out the door, Troy was there, on the porch. He looked like he'd been waiting for a while, think about ringing the doorbell. I thought that was weird, but he asked if he could come to the park, and I said sure. I gave him Alanna's leash because she doesn't tug on it as much as Thorn does."

"Your dogs are named Alanna and Thorn?" Sharpay interrupted her. Brenda glared at her but she didn't seem to notice, "Seriously?"

"It's from this series of books I like," Gabi said, blushing furiously. She hadn't ever thought of her dogs' names as embarrassing before.

"Go on," Brenda said, "So you and Troy walked up to the park."

"Yeah," Gabi said. "And we let the dogs off the leashes in the fenced area, and then we sat on this bench by the fountain."

"I know that fountain," Sharpay said. "Wow, that's so romantic."

"_Sharpay_," Brenda said, "Stop _interrupting_."

"And then he put something in my hand," Gabi said. She imagined it so many times; it was like it was real in her head. She could practically see the expression of his face in the moonlight. "I looked down, and it was this little origami whale. On one side, it said, 'Gabi…' and when I turned it over, the other side said, '…will you be my girlfriend?'"

"Oh my _God_," Sharpay said. "that is like the cutest thing I've ever heard."

"How could you read it in the moonlight?" Brenda asked suspiciously.

"There were, um, lights in the park," Gabi said, jolted back to reality. She glanced nervously at Troy, but couldn't figure out by the look on face. Was he freaked out? Did he think it was weird that she had come up with that whole story at the top of her head?

"Oh," Brenda said. "Well. That's sweet." She shoved Troy away from her. "I don't know why you didn't want to tell us _that _story, Troy."

"Guys don't like girls to know how romantic they can be," Gabi said, trying to sound like she had any idea what she was talking about.

"But you waited until Friday to say yes?" Brenda asked. Gabi felt like she was being interrogated. The bright lights and water torture couldn't be far off.

"Um. I guess I was nervous," she said. "I haven't – I mean, Troy's my first –," She faltered. She couldn't do it. She couldn't say, "Troy's my boyfriend."

"The important thing is she did say yes," Troy said smoothly. He put one arm around Gabi's shoulders and used his other hand to wrap her arm around her waist. "Now that you have all the details you need for an in-depth encyclopedia on the subject, may we please get to camp, Ms. McKennis?"

Brenda lifted her chin so her wings of hair swung back from her face. "Of course," she said, linking her arm through Sharpay's. "Come on, Shar." They swept on ahead, down the path leading to the check-in booth.

Gabi's heart was racing. Troy's whole side was pressed against hers, and his bare arm was resting lightly on her shoulders, and her arm could feel the muscles in his back through his shirt, and it didn't seem possible that she could be so confused and scared and thrilled at the same time.

"Wait," he whispered, curling his hand around her shoulder until Brenda and Sharpay were out of ear shot. As soon as they were, he nudged her forward, keeping his arm in place. "Gabi, that was amazing."

"Oh," she said, turning pink, "It wasn't anything special."

"Seriously?" he said. "I couldn't believe it. I _wish_ I were that cool. You should have been a guy. You'd knock the socks off any girl with a move like that."

Gabi started giggling. She couldn't help up. "Knock the socks off?" she said. "How old are you, fifty?"

"Nice," Troy said, "I compliment you and you make fun of me."

"Sorry," Gabi said. "I forgot for a moment that that's really what every girl wants to hear – that she'd make a great boy."

"I _mean_," said Troy, "that you're much smarter than any boy I've heard of."

"I'm a girl," Gabi pointed out. "So that's true by definition."

"Dweeb."

"Loser."

Troy pressed one hand to his forehead. "Alas, how my girlfriend abuses me." They'd reached the check-in counter, so he took his arm from around her shoulders and leaned over to sign in.

Gabi glanced around. Brenda was standing halfway down the path to the swimming pool, her arms folded so her elbows pointed at her side. Gabi could feel her freezing glare from there.

This wasn't over. Brenda wanted Troy, and she thought Gabi was the one standing in her way. The question was,

_What was Brenda going to do about it?_

_**Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I don't like your girlfriend!  
No way! No way!  
I think you need a new one  
Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I could be your girlfriend  
-Avril Lavigne, "Girlfriend"**_

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Again, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I promise the next chapter will be updated sooner. Remember to Review! It'll encourage me to up date the next chapter sooner. Thanks!**


	4. Sugar We're Going Down

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry. School has been a big pain. But... I saw High School Musical 3 this weekend. And that inspired me to write more. It was a cheesy movie, but good at the same time. Best out of all the High School Musical movies. Anyways, thanks for all of those who reviewed in the last chapter and added this story on their story alert/favorite lists. **

**I'm sorry if I slip up sometimes, I try my best not to but I'm copying from the book so if you guys see any slip ups I'm sorry. I try my best to read over it a few times but sometimes I don't catch them. So here are the names that go with the character:  
Jake – Troy  
Lexie – Gabriella  
Sally – Sharpay  
Bree – Brenda  
Colin – Chad**

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters.  
****_  


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_**

_**He's With Me – Chapter 3  
Sugar, We're Going Down**_

The good news was that the Advanced Tennis class was on a different set of courts, so Troy couldn't see how terribly Gabriella played. The bad news was that Sharpay was in Beginner's with Gabriella, except she was good, and Gabriella was terrible. Sharpay's swings were smooth and always connected with the ball. Gabriella kept letting go of the tennis racket by accident and nearly banging the instructor with it. She was pretty sure Sharpay was laughing at her, and the tales of Gabriella's incompetence would be traveling straight back to Brenda.

By lunch time, Gabriella's arms ached and her hair was sticking to her face. She was so relieved when the instructor let them go; she didn't even care that now she had to face Troy and Brenda.

Gabriella was gathering her stuff when a voice said, "Hey," behind her and she jumped.

"Sorry to startle you," Sharpay said, bouncing on her heels. "I just wanted to say, don't worry, you'll get better. I was pretty bad when I first started. I'm still not good enough for Immediate or Advanced.

Gabriella couldn't think of anything interesting to say so she said "Um, thanks."

Sharpay kept looking at Gabriella, as if she was thinking, _How did a girl like you snag Troy Bolton? _Gabriella thought, _I'll answer that if you can tell me why you agreed to become best friends with the scariest person in school. _

"Well?" Sharpay said.

"Well, what?" Gabriella asked.

"Aren't you starving? Let's go to lunch."

_Let's? As in "let us"? Us? Me and Sharpay Evans? There's an us there? _

Sharpay span her racket impatiently and Gabriella grabbed her bag with the hat, extra sunscreen, and the brown bag lunch her mom had packed. She followed Sharpay up the walkway to a bunch of picnic tables under the trees. The other Teen for Tennis campers were gathering there, along with the lifeguard training class from the pool and a group of basketball campers.

Troy was already sitting at the table unwrapping his lunch. His hair was half-wet from the showers and drying in the sun, so it was kind of spiky and darker than usual. That day his shirt was light blue, making his eyes even bluer. He saw Gabriella and waved.

"Wow." Sharpay said, "Did you see his face light up when he saw you? That's so cute. My boyfriend never looks that excited to see me."

_Yeah. I guess Troy's a really good actor, _Gabriella thought.

"You have a boyfriend?" Gabriella said, but too quietly, so Sharpay didn't hear her and she had to repeat herself.

"Oh, sure," Sharpay said. "Ian Montgomery. Brenda set us up in April." That made sense. Ian was athletic and blond and agreeable and would fit with Brenda's idea of who her friends should date. For one thing, _she'd _never wanted to date him. Anyone she'd dated was off the menu for everyone else.

Sharpay peeled off to join Brenda and her Glare of Death in line for pizza, and Gabriella hesitantly went over to Troy's table. See this is why Chad should be there. She'd know exactly who she'd sit with and how. And if she wanted to spend lunch reading her book, he wouldn't mind. But of course, she had to sit with Troy, right? A girlfriend would normally sit with her boyfriend. That was the normal thing to do.

She set her lunch bag on the table, opposite him, and he immediately reached out and grabbed it.

"Hey." She said, "Eat your own lunch."

"Sit next to me," he said frantically, "Or else _she _will.

Gabriella looked up and saw Brenda heading purposefully their way. She scooted quickly around the edge of the table and managed to site down next to Troy before Brenda plunked her tray down on the table.

"Oh Troysie," Brenda said, ignoring Gabriella, "I saw you playing tennis when I went by the courts earlier. You are _so _talented."

"Thanks," Troy said, opening Gabriella's lunch. "Wow, Gabi, your mom sure likes to carrot sticks, doesn't she?"

"We suspect she owns a whole stock in them or something" Gabriella joked. Troy laughed; Brenda didn't.

"Not to mention," Brenda went on as if they hadn't spoken, "you look so hot in shorts. Not every guy can pull of that look – right, Gabi? It must be so hard to concentrate with your _boyfriend _right there looking that hot."

"Oh, we're in two different classes," Gabriella said awkwardly.

"So what celebrity guys do you like, Gabi?" Brenda said, "Any guys as cute as Troy? Don't worry, I'm sure he won't be jealous. Tell me your deep dark secret crush."

_Yeah, that would be…Troy. _

"Um, I don't know. Maybe Brad Pitt." Gabriella mumbled.

Brenda rolled her eyes. "Like we all haven't heard _that_ one before." She said.

"Here, Gabi," Troy said, and she realized he was saying her name a lot more than usual. He broke his cookie in half and handed her the bigger portion. "To make up for all those carrot sticks."

"Really? Gabriella met his eyes as he handed her the cookie. He looked so worried; she couldn't stop herself from smiling at him.

"That is _so _cute," Sharpay said, sliding onto the bench next to Brenda. Ian totally refuses to share his food with me. I once ate a French fry off his plate when he had clearly finished eating and he, like, didn't speak to me for the rest of the weekend."

"He's probably helping you watch your weight." Brenda said nastily. "I say he's doing you a favor."

Sharpay looked hurt. She stared down at her pizza, poking it with her fork but not eating it. Gabriella wished she was brave enough to tell Sharpay that Brenda being crazy – and mean for no reason – but was too afraid to butt into their conversation. Brenda had enough reasons to hate her.

"So what are you going to do for your afternoon activity?" Troy asked Gabriella. She realized that there were sign-up sheets on all of the tables. The list included more tennis _(no thanks)_, learning to paper-mache _(if I were still eight years old)_, Ultimate Frisbee, and pool volleyball. Sadly, going home and watching TV with Chad was not on the list.

"I don't know." Gabriella said, "None of this is my idea of fun. I guess Frisbee sounds the least painful."

"Really?" Brenda pounced. "I thought for sure you would want to be with your _boyfriend_. Unless you don't really want to hang out with him, but I'm sure that's not true."

Gabriella gave Troy a confused look, and he tapped POOL VOLLEYBALL with one finger. "I'm a team captain," he said, "Cynthia – the woman in charge of pool activities – asked me to because I have life guard training."

"Oh," she said. Now what? On one hand if she stuck with Frisbee she wouldn't be acting like a real girlfriend, would she? But on the other hand…pool volleyball meant a bathing suit. In front of Troy, and worse, Brenda. At least the red bikini was safe under her bed at home.

"Come on." Troy said, taking one of her hands in both of his. "It'll be fun."

"You don't really want me on your team," Gabriella said, "I'm terrible."

"I know." Troy said, "I want you on the other guy's team."

Gabriella swatted him on the chest. "That is no way to talk to your girlfriend," she said, forgetting for a moment that Brenda was right there, intently watching them.

"You're right," he said. "My apologies, sugar plum. I'm sorry, honey pie. I'll never do it again my little pumpkin. Is that better?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I feel so edible all of a sudden."

"Cute enough to eat," he said. Gabriella looked down at the table turning pink again. He didn't have to overact quite so much. Brenda would catch on if he kept being ridiculous.

"Adorable," Sharpay said, shaking her head. "I aspire to be that adorable."

Brenda stood up, grabbed Sharpay's hand, and yanked her away. As they hurried off, Gabriella heard Brenda whisper, _"Nauseating," _just loudly enough for Gabriella to hear.

Gabriella pulled her hand free and wrapped up the remains of her sandwich. Now that they were gone, how was she supposed to act?

"I think it's going well," Troy said, "don't you?"

"Um, sure." Gabriella said. _In the sense of me not literally being dead yet. _

"You don't really have to do volleyball if you don't want to," he said.

"It's okay," Gabriella said. "I'm sure it'll be fun. Besides, after tennis, I could sure use a swim."

"Have I said thank you for this?" Troy asked. "Because, seriously. Thank you for this."

"I'm not sure I'm helping." Gabriella said. "She's still paying so much attention to you."

"I'm sure she'll get over it soon." Troy said. "You won't have to pretend for much longer."

_So instead of pretending to date you…I can go back to pretending I don't like you. _

Gabriella sighed.

_When do I finally get to stop pretending?_

_**We're going down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
-Fall Out Boy, "Sugar We're Going Down"  


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**_**Happy Veteran's Day! I think, hopefully, the next chapter will be out by Thanksgiving since I get the whole week off. Thank God! And the teachers promised us no homework…hopefully. Anyways, please review!**


	5. What's Your Name?

**Thanks so much guys for all the reviews! I love you guys! **

**Disclaimer: Kenny Ortega was a genius for casting Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens as Troy and Gabriella. Needless to say, but I'm not that much of a genius.  
**_**  
**_

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_**He's With Me – Chapter 4  
What's Your Name?**_

The girls' changing room had separate stalls with doors, much to Gabriella's relief. She didn't like getting undressed in front of people, plus she was sure that Brenda and Sharpay would be staring at her the whole time.

As she waited for a stall, Gabriella saw that most of the Beginner's Tennis Class had signed up for pool volleyball too, including Sharpay. Brenda kept talking loudly about her lifeguard training, like she wanted everyone to know that she wasn't a tennis camper like everyone else. Her eighteenth birthday was 2 months before so she was old enough, and the pool gave classes for it in the mornings.

Troy would be turning eighteen in a week and a half. Gabriella wondered suddenly if she was supposed to get him a present. Normally, she'd help Chad pick out something funny from the both of them. But as his pretend girlfriend, was she supposed to give him something special and meaningful? Something that Brenda would notice, that shouted "Look, my totally-for-real girlfriend gave me this"?

She'd have to save the panicking about that for later. Maybe Chad would help her figure it out. Not for the first time, she wished he was at the Summerlodge too, and she wondered what he was doing all day. Probably beating her high score on all their games.

She adjusted the straps on her black one-piece and stepped into her flip-flops, tucking the rest of her stuff into her shoulder bag. Her red bead necklace from Troy went carefully into the side of the zipper pocket, where she was sure it would be safe. The moment she unlatched the door, Brenda pulled it open.

"Oh, _Gabriella_," Brenda said. "What a _darling_ bathing suit. I used to have one just like it. When I was nine."

Brenda, of course, was wearing one of her twelve different white bikinis. This one had thin barely-straps holding up the top, and the bottom was a pair of tiny short-short shorts that showed off her long legs. Gabriella could not ever, ever, ever imagine wearing something like that in public.

Sharpay was wearing a two-piece too, but hers was more of a tankini, where the top came all the way down to cover her stomach, like a tank top. She kept tugging it as if trying to make it cover more. It was a deep emerald green with darker waves across it. She wore emerald green flip-flops to match.

"Towels are over there," Sharpay said, pointing to a folded pile by the door.

"Unless you brought your own," Brenda said. "Because you don't care for other people's germs." She wound a lavender beach towel around her waist while Sharpay and Gabriella each took one of the plain white towels from the pile. Then she led the way out to the pool area.

Gabriella was glad she was wearing waterproof sunscreen, even if her mom was crazy. It was really hot around the pool. Up in the two lifeguard stations, two older guys were sitting, looking like Secret Service agents behind her sunglasses. A volleyball net had been set up, stretching across the middle of the pool.

Troy was standing with a couple of freshman, talking and pointing to the net, but when he spotted Gabriella, he broke off and came over to her.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Long time no see." But Gabriella could tell that he was worried about her being alone with Brenda in the changing room, and that he was really asking if she was okay.

Before Gabriella could say anything, a curly-haired woman in bright yellow culottes blew a whistle around her neck and made them all gather at the wall farthest away from the pool. Then she spent forty-five minutes explaining all the rules of the pool as well as how to play the game.

Finally, she called the team captains forward and read off their assigned teams. Gabriella couldn't believe her luck – she was on Troy's team! As she headed over, he high-fived her and winked.

"Did you make that happen?" she whispered.

"Of course," he said. "Cynthia likes me. She's hoping I'll work here as a lifeguard once tennis camp is over."

Best of all, Brenda had to be a team captain too and Sharpay wound up on a third team, so Gabriella and Troy didn't have to get too close to them for the rest of the day.

There were six teams, so four teams would watch while the other two played each other, and then they'd switch around. As Cynthia explained it, they'd practice for a week, and then they'd have a tournament the next week to crown a winning team. Gabriella realized that that meant she'd signed up for two weeks of pool volleyball. She didn't get to switch to something else – like Frisbee – until two weeks were up.

To her surprise, volleyball was much more fun than she'd expected, although she kept getting water up her nose and a couple of freshman on her team were horrifyingly better than she was. She even managed to hit the ball in the right direction a couple of times, and each time she did, Troy yelled, "Yeah!" and splashed her.

Her time to serve came up. She balanced the ball in one hand and tried to remember what she'd learned in regular volleyball in gym class.

"Here," Troy said, coming up beside her. "Hold this arm out straight." He took her left arm under the water and straightened it out so it was pointing a little to her right. "Now keep that arm straight while you hit it with your other fist." He reached behind her and touched her left shoulder.

The combination of his hands, her bare arms, and the water made her so nervous; she swung wildly and sent the ball up out of the pool, into the crowd along the edge.

"Don't worry," Troy said, squeezing her shoulder, "You'll get it next time."

_Not if you keep helping me like that, I won't! _Gabriella thought, but the truth is she'd rather be close to Troy than hit a great volleyball serve any day.

Finally, the end of the day came. Gabriella didn't want to face Brenda and Sharpay in the changing room again, so she toweled off her hair, pulled on her shorts over her bathing suit, and headed straight out to the parking lot.

A stranger was leaning against Troy's car. A guy about her age. She'd never seen him before, which probably meant he either was new or went to one of the private schools in town.

"Hey," he said with a lazy, crooked smile. He had amazingly straight white teeth. His hair was shaggy and blond, and his eyes were dark brown.

"Um, hi," she said. "Sorry, that's – um, my friend's car."

"Oh, sorry," he said, moving aside. She stood there awkwardly, hoping Troy would come out soon.

"I'm Riley," he said. "I'm waiting for my brother. Do you go here?"

"Summerlodge?" she said. "Yeah. I'm doing the tennis camp."

"Huh," he said. His eyes had this far away dreamy look, and she really couldn't tell if he was listening to her until he turned and smiled at her again. His smile could really catch a girl's attention, even if that girl had a pretend boyfriend she was secretly totally in love with.

"Is it cool?" he said, but kept going with waiting for an answer. "Tennis. Man, I'm bad at tennis."

"Me too," Gabriella said. "It's –,"

"What did you say your name was?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and she wondered if he was melting in the heat but too cool to admit it.

"I didn't," she said. "Um. It's Gabriella." She took a look at the exit hoping that Troy would show up. Or else she'd have to stay and make conversation with this strange guy, because of course, she couldn't leave without Troy.

"Gabriella," Riley said. "that's cute. Has anyone ever told you that you look like Sophia Bush?"

"Who's that?"

"Wow, really?" he said, "Or are you trying to trick me into admitting I watch _One Tree Hill_?"

Gabriella giggled. "My brother would kill me if he found that on the television."

"Uh, yeah, me too," Riley said, affecting a deeper voice. "Me, I only watch wrestling. And monster truck rallies. Grrr."

"You're so busted," Gabriella said. "Admit it – you stay home whenever Grey's Anatomy is on, don't you?"

He laughed, and she found herself smiling despite her nervousness. She liked it when people got her jokes.

"Hey, Gabi," said Troy from behind her. She'd forgotten to keep watching for him, but her heart still leaped into double time as he paused next to her. His T-shirt was slightly damp from his wet hair. The light blue color made her want to lean into it, like falling into the sky.

"Who's this?" Troy asked. His gaze was fixed on Riley, and he didn't look too friendly.

"This is Riley," Gabriella said, wondering why her voice sounded higher than normal. "We jut met. He's waiting for someone."

"Oh," Troy said. Riley reached out his hand and Troy shook it, then tendons of his arm tensing like he was slamming a hammer down.

"And you are?" Riley asked.

"Troy." Pause. "Gabriella's boyfriend."

Gabriella was astonished. Why on earth would he say that? Brenda was nowhere in sight. There was no one around to run back and report to her. There was no reason at all to volunteer that information, as far as she could see. Not that she minded, but it was odd.

"Ah," Riley said.

"We better get going, Gabi." Troy said, opening her car door.

"Yeah, okay," she climbed in and waited for Troy to walk around the car to his side.

As Troy opened his car door, she said, "Well, see you."

"Nice to meet you, Gabriella," Riley said. He gave her the smile again, and she slammed her car door shut.

Troy was quiet all the way back to her house. He parked his car on the driveway of the Montez household.

"Don't you want to come in?" she said. "We can make fun of my lazy slug brother."

"Nah, not today," Troy said. "I've got stuff to do. Tell him I say hi."

"Oh, okay," Gabriella said.

He ran his hand along the top of his hair, looking like he was going to say something else, but he didn't and waited for Gabriella to climb out of the car. She stepped out of the car and closed the door, waving good bye. He backed out of the driveway, glanced at her, and waved back.

Chad was lying on the floor in front of the couch, where Gabriella had expected him to be. As she went into the den, he quickly slid something underneath the pile of cushions.

"What was that?" she said.

"What?" he said, pretending to be focused on a plate on the coffee table. "Here, Mom made snacks. It's basically peanut butter on celery but its cut into slices so it's prettier and harder to eat. Habe you ever notice that she's weird?"

"Chad, come on," Gabriella said, flopping down on the couch. "What were you hiding when I came in?"

"Nothing" he said. "Where's Troy?"

Gabriella was hurt. Chad never kept anything from her. What could it be?

"Troy decided not to come in," she said. "But he says hi." She waited for a minute, but Chad kept moving the celery around the plate without saying anything.

"So…did you have fun today?" she tried. "Tennis was so lame. I'm a total menace with a tennis racket. What did you do?"

"Nothing," he said again.

"I'll bet," she said, reaching for the remote control and flipping the TV to their favorite game. To her surprise, none of the scores had changed. Either, he hadn't played very well that day, or he hadn't played at all.

"Was Brenda there?" Chad asked.

"Of course," Gabriella said. "She's so scary. And now she seriously hates me."

"But she's really hot," Chad said. "I don't get why Troy wouldn't just date her. _I_ would, if I weren't too stupid and boring for her to like me. It sounds a lot easier than pretending to date you."

"Oh, thanks." Gabriella said, pushing herself off the couch. She headed for the door in a huff, but he didn't stop her. In the doorway, she turned and glanced back. He was staring down at the table, rolling a pencil absentmindedly back and forth along the carpet.

Her mom was coming down the stairs as Gabriella went up.

"Oh, Gabi!" Mrs. Montez said happily. "How was the Summerlodge? Did you have a lovely time? It wasn't so bad without your brother, was it?"

"It was terrible, like I thought it would be," Gabriella said. "I think something's wrong with Chad. I'm going to take a shower."

Her mom looked disappointed, but she stepped aside without pressing for more tennis details. At least she didn't ask about the bikini, safely hidden under Gabriella's bed.

In her room, Gabriella lay down on her bed, feeling tired. It was kind of exhausting being a pretend girlfriend. First there were Brenda and Sharpay; then there was all the complicated Troy stuff, plus that guy Riley; and now Chad was acting strange and keeping secrets. She felt all mixed up, with no one to talk to about it.

_And it starts all over again tomorrow. _

_**What's your name  
Oh I really wanna know  
You got me going crazy  
And I want you more and more  
Oh hey this could be something real  
I gotta let you know the way I feel  
What's your name  
-Jesse McCartney, "What's Your Name?"  


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**_**Every time I try to type G, I accidentally type T instead. Has anyone noticed that T and G on the computer keyboard are kinda right next to each other? That must mean something. I mean T and G are right next to each other. I'm telling you, Troy and Gabriella are **_**meant to be**_**. You don't see S and T next to each other, do you? Anyways, review!**


	6. Hold Up My Heart

**First of all, I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY for not updating. I have a lot going on right now. Preparing for midterms and stuff. My computer kinda broke down and now my dad is trying to fix it. I don't know if I will get my previous documents back considering my computer has every other chapter of He's With Me. And I'm writing on my mom's computer which is not that great considering I'm writing on WordPad when I usually write on Microsoft Word. Doesn't even have spell check! So, I kindly ask you to forgive me if I spell something wrong.**

**Now for the good news, a new chapter is up! And I went to Disneyland (again! YAY! i love disneyland.) for winter break and along with that I also went to Las Vegas. I saw the High School Musical Pep Rally. Well, not really. Just passed by it, is all. AND OH MY GOSH!! 50 REVIEWS!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED! WOW!!!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer: High School Musical and He's With Me by Tamara Summers is not owned by me. If it were, I'd make a 4th High School Musical based on this book. That, my friend, will never happen.**

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_**  
He's With Me - Chapter 5  
Hold Up My Heart**_

The next day was even stranger than Gabriella had expected, mainly because there was a surprise newcomer to her tennis class. He was leaning against the fence of the tennis courts as she walked up, swinging a racket in one hand.

"Hey, Gabi!" Riley said enthusiasically, "Where's your boyfriend?"

Gabriella nearly said, "Who?" but remembered in time. "He's in the Advanced class," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you made these tennis lessons sound so fun," he said with his crooked smile. "I figured I'd sign up and join in."

"I did?" Gabriella tried to remember anything she said that might possibly have been misunderstood as "tennis is fun."

"Sure," Riley said. "And maybe if you're as bad as I am, we can be partners."

"I'll be pretty impressed if you're as bad as I am," Gabriella said.

Sharpay was on the court already, bouncing the ball off her racket in the air. Gabriella wasn't sure, but she got the feeling Sharpay was watching her and Riley.

"Don't you need to change?" Gabriella said as Riley started to follow her through the fence. He was wearing jeans again, although at least he'd switched to a T-shirt.

"I already got the lecture from Sergeant Shorts over there," Riley said, jerking his thumb at Mr. Giambi, the instructor. "But what's he going to do? This is how I am."

"There's a lot of running around," Gabriella said, worriedly. "especially when you play with me."

"Don't worry," Riley said, smiling again. "I'll be fine.

He wasn't fine. By 10:00 AM, when they switched from drills to practice matches, he was sweating so much that his shirt stuck to his back, and he looked exhausted. Gabriella felt bad for him, so when they were paired up, she tried to be the one to run after the ball as much as possible. Each time she did, he would collapse down on the court until Mr. Giambi yelled at him to get up.

He was right about one thing, though. He was really bad at tennis, too. He had trouble even getting it over the net, so she hardly ever got to try volleying it back.

Finally, for the last hour, Mr. Giambi switched the partners and she was paired with Sharpay. At least with a good partner she had the better chance to practice, but Riley seem disappointed that they were split up. She glanced over at his court a couple of times and caught him watching her instead of the tennis ball he was supposed to be watching.

"Hey," Sharpay said, during a break for water. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

It was funny how a simple sentence could make a person so nervous. Gabriella screwed the cap back on her water bottle, trying to look calm.

"This Friday," Sharpay went on, "would you like to go on a double date with me and Ian?"

"Really?" Gabriella said. That was about the furthest thing from what she expected Sharpay to say. A double date? A real date? With Brenda's best friend? _Maybe that's why, _the voice inside her head whispered, _Brenda's assigned her to spy on us. To see if Troy and I still act like a couple away from Summerlodge. So I have to say yes, don't I?_

"Um," she said, hedging. "Let me ask Troy. But thanks, that sounds like fun."

"It would be fun," Sharpay said. "I was thinking we could walk downtown to the movie theater on Main Street - I think they have the new Pixar movie there, which Ian is being kind of a jerk about seeing, but I'll get him to go. And then we can have dinner at the diner across the street afterward."

Gabriella nodded. Sharpay added, "Unless you want to do something else. My mom could drive us to the mall, but I thought it we'd have more fun without any parent yakking at us the whole way. Ian's not a big fan of my mom."

"The one in town sounds fine," said Gabriella. "I've been wanting to see the Pixar movie, too."

"_Finding Nemo _was _so _funny," Sharpay said, and Gabriella would have agreed but Mr. Giambi called them back to the court to keep practicing.

On the way to lunch, Riley caught up with Sharpay and Gabriella.

"Okay," he said, "lesson learned. No more jeans. I'm afraid you're going to think my cool factor is plummeting but you know, if the choice is shorts or dath, I guess shorts win my a tiiiiiiiiiiny margin."

"I won't think you're less cool," Gabriella said.

"I'll think you're heck of a lot smarter," Sharpay said. "Hi, I'm Sharpay."

"Riley," he said.

"Oh, Gabi," Sharpay said, "I forgot to mention - don't say anything to Brenda about our double date. I'll tell her later, but she can be weird about stuff like that."

_Clever, _Gabriella thought. _Make me think Brenda doesn't know about it when she's really the one who masterminded the whole thing. _

"No problem," she said.

"Double date?" Riley asked.

"Maybe," Gabriella said. "I have to check with Troy."

"Oh, right," Riley said. "Your boyfriend."

They got in sight of the picnic tables, and once again, Troy was already there. He raised his hand to wave at Gabriella but stupped when he saw Riley.

"And there he is," Riley said.

"You can, um, sit with us, if you want," Gabriella said.

"Great, thanks," he said. "First, hot dogs." He headed toward the lunch line. Sharpay raised her eyebrows at Gabriella and followed him. Gabriella wondered if that was a girl-code expression that a normal girl would have been able to translate. With a sigh, she headed over to Troy.

This time, she remembered to sit next to him instead of across from him. He smiled at her as she sat down, and it was such a different smile from Riley's. It made her calmer instead of more nervous, and it said, _I'm happy to see you, _instead of, _I know something about you. _He smelled sharp and clean, like apple shampoo.

"Hi there, girlfriend," he said as she sat down. he wondered how long he was going to find that funny, but she liked the way he said it, kind of warm and teasing at the same time. She was glad to see he seemed to be in a better mood than he had been when he'd dropped her off the day before.

"Hey," he added, "you're wearing the necklace I got you." He reached out and touched one of the glass beads. His fingers brushed the side of her neck like a whisper of wind, and her heart sped up. Hadn't he ever noticed that she wore it all the time?

"Yeah," she said awkwardly. "I love it."

"That's so cool," he said, removng his hand. "Go, me. What do you have for lunch today?"

"I, um," Gabriella said, clearing her throat, "well, I'm guessing more carrot sticks."

Troy laughed, but then his face changed, closing down again. Gabriella turned to see Riley sitting down on the other sie of her.

"Hi," Troy said. "I thought you didn't go here."

"I do now," Riley said. "Hello again, Gabi's boyfriend."

Brenda and Sharpay plunked their trays down on the other side of the table, and Gabriella was almost glad to see them. She felt a weird tension between Troy and Riley, and sitting in between them made her nervous.

"Hi ther," Brenda said, leanin toward Riley like a leopard sniffing out prey. "I'm Brenda. I'm a lifeguard, or I will be soon."

"Hey, Brenda," Riley said. "A lifeguard? That's awesome."

"Yes, well," Brenda said, shooting a look at both Gabriella and Sharpay. "I thought it would be a good way to help my community. Better than tennis, for instance."

"Oh, I'm doing tennis." Riley said, and Gabriella nearly giggled at the "oops" look on Brenda's face.

"Really," Brenda purred. "Sharpay, you didn't tell me about any gorgeous guys in your tennis class."

"He just started today," Sharpay said, stabbbing a fork in her salad like she was hoping it would die and turn into a hamburger.

"And what's your name, handsome?" Brenda said.

"Riley," he said. "What's yours?"

She wrinkled her nose like she was trying to hide her real expression. "I already told you," she said. "It's Brenda."

"Oh, right." he said He gave Gabriella a huge obvious wink. It took her a minute to realize what he was saying, _The one we're not telling aobu the double date. _

Which reminded her. But she couldn't ask Troy in front of everyone. "Hey," she said, turning to him. He was moodily shredding her brown paper bag. "Um, Troy. I forgot to get a soda. Want to come with me to...um...buy one?"

Troy looked confused. He knew her mom didn't like her to drink soda. When he paused, Riley jumped in. "I'll come with you," he said. "I've got tons of change for the vending machine."

"No, that's okay," Troy said quickly. "I can buy my own girlfriend a soda, thanks." He took Gabriella's hand and tugged her away from the bench. His hand was much cooler than hers, and much bigger.

As they walked way, Gabriella heard Brenda purr, "You can buy _me_ a soda, Riley."

"Nah, I'm good," he said.

Gabriella hid a smile. Brenda wasn't going to like that! But maybe if she turned her attention to RIley, she'll lose interest in Troy and leave him and Gabriella alone.

"What kind do you want?" Troy said, feeding quarters into the slot.

"Cherry Coke," she said. "I can pay for it, Troy."

"no, no," he said waving her hand away. "Let me, since I don't have a cookie to split with you today." He grinned at her, then glanced over her shoulder, back at the table. "I don't like that guy," he said, punching the Cherry Coke button a little too hard.

"Riley?" Gabriella asked. "why?"

"Well, why didn't he start tennis camp at the same time as the rest of us?" Troy said. "Why doesn't he have any of his own friends? And his smile is all lopsided."

"That's true," Gabriella said. "He is a little weird - he wore jeans to tennis this morning. But he seems nice enough."

"Hmm," Troy said, turning to head back.

"Wait," she said, catching his sleeve. "Actually, I need to ask you something."

"Aha," he said. "I thought the soda thing was out of the blue."

"Well, if you help me drink it, I figure I'll only be half breaking my mom's rule, right?" He smiled, and she told him about Sharpay's double date offer. "I know it's strange," Gabriella said. "Maybe we could tell her you already have plans, or that our parents won't let us go or something."

"Are you sure?" Troy said. "I think it could be fun, don't you?"

"Oh," Gabriella said. "well, I mean, if you - "

"Why not, right?" Troy said. "I want to see it; you want to see it."

"But with Sharpay and Ian?"

"Well, we don't have to talk to them during the movie. But we also don't have to go," he said. "I mean, if you don't want to, I can totally say no for us. I'm sure you don't want to go on your first date with a guy who's just a friend, like me, right?"

He was looking at her really intently. _You have no idea, _she thought. _I want to go on my first date with you, plus every other date with you for the rest of my life. _

"No, I mean, sure," she said. "We can go. Let's do it. Besides, if Brenda is behind it, this should help convince her we're really dating, right?"

"Right," he said, "That's why we're doing it. Of course."

When they got back to the table, Brenda was explaining lifeguard training to Riley, who looked fascinated. Sharpay looked bored, but when Gabriella caught her eye nad gabe her a thumbs-up, her face brightened.

"I'll call you," she mouthed when Breanda wasn't looking.

The afternoon went a lot like the previous afternoon, except Riley joined pool volleyball and was put on Brenda's team. Seeing him made Gabriella realize why he like jeans better than shorts: His legs were thina dn plaer than his arms, which looked sort of odd. But he turned out to be a lot better at this sport than tennis, and he made a lot of energetic leaps and deives to hit the ball, splashing everyone around the pool in the process. Whenever he saw Gabriella watching him, he gave her his crooked smile.

At the end of the day, Troy hustled out of the changing room almost as soon as he got in, catching up to Gabriella while she was on the path to the parking lot.

"Hey," she said. "That was fast."

"That guy was annoying me," Troy said. "He keeps asking questions about our relationship, like how long we've been dating and stuff."

"Really?" Gabriella said. "That's weird. I wonder why."

"Uh, yeah," Troy said, opening Gabriella's car door. "Weird. Let's go before he comes out."

As they rode back to Gabriella's house, she wondered if she should talk to Troy about Chad. Maybe he could help her figure out what was wrong with her brother. She decided to wait and see if Troy noticed anything himself. But when he came inside with her, Chad seemed mor cheerful than he had the day befor. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon trying to set up and film gory special effects from a book Troy had found. It didn't work very well; they ended with ketchup all over the kitchen and several bits of carrot that didn't look anything like severed fingers.

"Better luck tomorrow," Troy said, heading out the door. "See you in the morning, Gabi." She stood at the screen door and waved as he pedaled away. Thorn and Alanna nosed their way into the kitchen and snuffled across the floor, licking up spattered ketchup and carrot bits.

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Montez said, coming into the kitchen. "I gather we're having takeout dinner."

"We're cleaning it up, don't worry." Chad said.

"I'm quite sure you are," hiim mom said. "Gabi, Sharpay Evans is on the phone for you. When you're done, ask her if I can speak to her mother."

Chad gave Gabriella a curious look. He knew as well as she did that a phone call from Sharpay Ebans was not at all the normal event their mother seemed to think it was.

Gabriella picked up Alanna for moral support, took the portable phone to her room, and shut the door.

"Hi, Sharpay," she said into the phone, lying down on the bed. Alnna curled up beside her and began licking her fingers with energetic snorting sounds.

"Hey, Gabi," Sharpay said, as if she called her everyday. "So let's figure out Friday. Ian's beinga pain about it because he's going on a camping trip with his family the next day or something. But he'll come. It'll be fun, don't you think?"

"Sure," Gabriella said.

"I've been wanting to go on a double date for ages." Sharpay said. "but Brenda hates them. She likes to keep her boyfriends to herself. Anyway, I don't want Ian to model himself on any of her relationships. Bu I figure he could ick up some tips from Troy, right? I'd love it if he treated me a bit more like Troy treats you."

Gabriella thought that was funny. The whole time Troy had been dating Amy Sorrento, Amy had complained nonstop (Troy's words) about what an unenthusiastic, uninspired, boring, neglectful boyfriend he was (her words). Maybe he was just better at pretending to be in a relationship than acutally being in one.

"Are you excited?" Sharpay asked. "Dinner and a movie, totally romantic, right?" Is it okay if I have my mom drop me off at your place befor hand, so we can walk together? It's closer from your house."

"Yeah, okay," Gabriella said, and then, because she felt bad about how excited Sharpay seemed (even if it was a trick) she added, "I"m excited for this movie."

"Me _too_." Sharpay said, and then started her off on a comparison between _Cars _and _Monsters, Inc._ They ended up talking fo half an hour - and by the time Gabriella got back downstairs, Chad had finished cleaning the kitchen. Mrs. Montez was standing at the counter, sorting out takout menus.

"Here you go, Mom," Gabriella said, handing her the phone.

"Oh, thanks, Gabi," her mom said. "Pick a menu and order, would you? You know what your father and I like. He should come home from work in about half an hour. " Mr. Montez took a train to the city every morning before the rest of his family got up, and often came home late at night. Gabriella didn't understand exactly what he did - something to do with numbers and law and banks and contracts.

As soon as Mrs. Montez had wandered out of the kitchen, chatting away with Mrs. Evans, Gabriella pulled herself up to sit on the counter and whispered, "Chad, guess what?"

"I don't get it," he said, studying a carrot. "Why did it look so fake? We were using the black-and-white setting, so it's not the color. Even I'm not dumb enough to think we can get away with orange fingers."

"Chad, listen," Gabriella insisted. "I"m going on a date on Friday."

That did get his attention, if only for a moment. He put the carrot down and picked up the pile of menus. Thorn butted at his knees, demanding more carrot pieces with a small woof.

"With who?" Chad asked.

"With Troy, of course," Gabriella said. "Remember that traumatizing soap opera you bolunteered me for?" _Which you havenn't even asked me about. Like you don't care if Brenda McKennis murders me in my sleep. _

"Oh," he said, sounding relieved. "So it's just a pretend date."

"Well it's a double date with Sharpay Evans and Ian Montgomery." Gabriella said. "But, Chad, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Or say. Or _wear_. Oh my _God_."

"Who cares?" Chad said. "It's just Troy. He doesn't care what you wear."

_Sadly true, _Gabriella thought. "Okay," she said, "but Sharpay will be reporting back to Brenda. So I have to at least pretend to care." _That's my story, anyway. So Chad doesn't notice how much I actually do care._

"You'll figure it out." Chad said. "you don't need your dumb brother's help. I vote for Indian or Mexican. You decide."

He dropped two menus on the counter next to her and left the room, Thorn and Alanna pattering along beside him. Gabriella stared at the door.

_What on earth was wrong with Chad?_

_**So Please, Hold up my Heart  
Give me a reason for this empty silence  
Please, hold up my heart  
Darlin', I am changing, but everybody's changing too.  
-Brooke White, "Hold Up My Heart"**_

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That's Chapter 5 for you, guys! Please review. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up depending on how long my computer takes to be fixed. **

**Okay, so I'm kinda holding a contest. So, in your review, if you want, please put a reason why Troy and Gabriella are meant to be. Like my keyboard demonstration from last chapter. They can be totally and completely random. I'll prefer it'll be totally and completely random. And please don't put just because. And in the next chapter, I'll put the one I like the most at the end of the chapter. And at the end of the story, I'll put the list of all the reasons on why Troy and Gabriella are meant to be as the last chapter. **

**And please start with Troy and Gabriella are meant to be because...**

**So I'll start. Troy and Gabriella are meant to be because if you type Troyella on Google you get 201,000 results. However, if you type Troypay on Google you get 54,400 results. The Troyella results are about 4 times as many! **

**Review, please!**


	7. Untouched

**First of all, I'm so sorry. I know I don't deserve an apology but everything's been so busy lately, from tons of projects to picking next year's classes. You actually might be better off reading the book. But thank you SOO much for being patient.**

**Okay, I did change the names of the chapters and added a little bit at the end of each chapter. But they're just song lyrics. I thought it would be cool to put songs as each title of the chapter. **

**This chapter is dedicated to: _X-xLost in my thoughtsx-X_**

**The reason why Troy and Gabriella are meant to be together: Troy means Soldier ****and Gabriella means Strength...and strength and Soldier go together.**

**Which I thought was pretty cool cause I never knew that Troy meant soldier and Gabriella meant strength.**

**Anyways, here's the chapter you've been waiting for, right after the disclaimer. **

**Disclaimer: I WISH ON A MILLION STARS.**_**

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**_He's With Me – Chapter 6  
Untouched_**

Chad wasn't the only one acting bizarre. Mrs. Montez kept giving Gabriella tiny smiles all throughout Tuesday night. On Wednesday, she left a pile of nail polish and makeup on Gabriella's desk. And on Thursday evening she suggested a shopping trip, "just us girls," even though she knew Gabriella hated shopping. Gabriella wasn't about to be bossed into tennis _and _shopping in one week, so she said no.

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" her mom said. "We could get you something nice to wear. In case you need it sometime soon. For anything."

_Aha. _Gabriella's mom was onto her. Mrs. Evans must have told her about the double date. Gabriella was kind of impressed that her mom managed not to ask Gabriella a million questions right away.

"Oh, no, I don't need anything," Gabriella said. Her mom's face fell and Gabriella felt a twinge of guilt. "Besides, Mom," she added, trying to be nice, "you're a much better shopper than I am. I like the stuff you get me." It was true. With the exception of the bikini, Mrs. Montez's taste in clothing was remarkable. Sometimes Gabriella thought it was the only thing keeping her out of the ranks of the true dorks of the school.

"All right," Mrs. Montez said, hovering in the doorway. "If you're sure."

"Uh-huh," Gabriella said. "Thanks."

As her mom closed the door, Gabriella crawled over the bed and knocked three times on the wall, the signal for Chad to come over. Then she started puling clothes out of the closet.

"What?" Chad said, opening the door and poking his head around.

"Come help me decide what to wear tomorrow." Gabriella said.

"No way," Chad said.

"Chad!"

"That's girl stuff."

"And where am I supposed to find a girl to help me with this?" Maybe if Taylor weren't all the way in _China_…although Taylor had never really cared about clothes either.

Chad shrugged. "Ask Mom."

"Yeah, right," Gabriella said. ""Should I lie to her and say I'm suddenly dating who's been our friend for three years, or should I explain that I'm only _pretend_ dating him to protect him from another girl? Which one of those fantastic stories do you think she'd like best?"

"Whatever," Chad said. "But I see skirts, so I'm leaving."

"Chad!" But he had already shut the door with a firm click.

Gabriella hesitated, looking at the scattered hangers and folds of fabric. Was this a fancy date? The diner wasn't exactly a fancy place. So was it more than a jeans and T-shirt event? She didn't want to look like she made too much effort; she didn't want to underdress either. She tried to remember the time difference in China. But her parents had set strict rules about when and for how long she could talk to Taylor, and their next phone date wasn't for another week. She'd have to find girly advice elsewhere.

Her hands shook a little as she picked up the phone and dialed. Sure, Sharpay was probably only doing this date thing because Brenda told her too. But she couldn't lie about what she was going to wear. So maybe her advice could be useful, just in this one situation.

"Oh, howdy-_doo_, Gabriella," Mrs. Evans said. "Hold on, let me get Sharpay."

"Gabriella!" Sharpay cried as she picked, "I'm so glad you called. I was just freaking out because I really have no idea what to wear tomorrow."

"Really?" Gabriella said, her nervousness evaporating. "That's why I called you!"

"Oh, _awesome_," Sharpay said. " Okay. Describe every single item of clothing you own, and I'll do the same, and then we'll outfits that will look good next to each other but won't exactly match, and then we'll panic and pick backup outfits, and then we'll change them around, and then we'll throw out the whole plan and start over."

Gabriella laughed. "All right, you asked for it," she said. But I own a lot of clothes. My mom _loves _shopping."

"You're lucky," Sally said. Mine will not take me. And you guys have great malls here, in my old town there was, like, one , and it was a whole hour away. I could spend my life in a mall, couldn't you?"

"Um," Gabriella said. "Well…"

"We'll go together sometime," Sharpay said. "I'll bet it's a lot more fun with someone who doesn't always answer the question 'Does this make me look fat with 'Actually, your _fat_ make you look fat.' I think Brenda got that from a movie but she thinks it's _so _funny."

"That is crazy," Gabriella said, feeling a lot braver now that Brenda wasn't there to hear her. "Sharpay, you don't need to lose weight. You're way thinner than I am."

"Yeah, but you're cute like that," Sharpay said. "You have curves. My extra weight makes me look thicker instead of curvier."

"Sharpay, seriously." Gabriella said. "This is crazy talk."

"Well, lets start with your tops," Sharpay said, changing the subject. "Do you have any red?"

"Sure." Gabriella said, and Sharpay laughed.

"I'm kidding, Gabi," she said. "You wear red, like, everyday."

"I do?"

"I'm surprised your bathing suit isn't red."

"Maybe if I ever get a second one, but I like the one I have."

"Doesn't it get boring wearing the same bathing suit everyday?" Sharpay had three that she'd been cycling between, two tankinis and a one-piece.

"No – I mean, I like it," Gabriella said.

"That's the important thing," Sharpay said. "So, tops. How about green for a change?"

Finally an hour later, they had decided that Gabriella would wear a gray shirt and a black skirt, with sandals that were comfortable enough to walk a few blocks in, while Sharpay would wear a sky-blue sundress.

Gabriella fell asleep feeling much happier, even though she was still mad at Chad for being so unhelpful.

The next morning, as she was taking her tennis racket out of Troy's trunk, Troy suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Are you excited for our date tonight, Gabi?" he said, a little too loudly.

"Shh, " Gabriella said, glancing around for Brenda. But the only person she saw was Rilley, strolling across the parking lot a few feet away from them. He gave her a wave-salute and headed in through the gates.

"Is it a secret from Riley, too?" Troy said, still holding on to her hand.

"No," she said, "I was just making sure Brenda wasn't around. Ironic, right? I mean, we're going on this date to prove that we're dating, but we're keeping it a secret from the person we're proving it to. Who knew deception could be so complicated?"

"It is funny," he said. "So are you? Excited?"

How was she supposed to answer this. "Are you?"

"I asked you first." He smiled but there was a small dent above one of his eyebrows that he got when he was worried.

"Sure I am. Don't worry, Troy; we'll have fun."

"It's just, this is the where my last three girlfriends usually started to get mad at me. Like, because I'm not calling enough or giving them presents, or something."

"You don't have to do any of that." Gabriella said, shaking her head. Lowering her voice, she added, "This is just pretend, remember?"

"I know," he said, looking down at her hand in his. "But – if it were real, would you want me – I mean, whoever your real boyfriend was – to do all that stuff?"

"I don't know," Gabriella said truthfully, "Not if its work. It shouldn't be hard. I wouldn't want you – I mean him – to only be complimenting me because I asked for it, you know? Or because you think you have to. I mean, I think if someone wanted to date me, I'd be happy with whatever they wanted to do to show it." She shrugged.

"That's what I figure," Troy said. They started walking up the path into Summerlodge. She wondered if he still remembered he was holding her hand. "Although I guess if it were the right girl, I'd want to do all that stuff. So maybe Amy was right about me."

"Nuh-uh," Gabriella said loyally. " She didn't appreciate you." _Not like I would._

"Oh look, it's the love birds." Brenda said, popping out from behind the check-in booth. She stretched, showing off her perfectly flat, tan stomach between her shirt and short skirt. For once, she was wearing a color other than white – a light blue fitted shirt. "So what are you doing tonight?" She said in her low, silky voice. "To celebrate your one week anniversary. Or did you already celebrate it on Wednesday, ha-ha?"

"We have plans." Troy said.

"Private plans?" Brenda said. "Or maybe we could double-date. Because I was thinking of asking that guy Riley out." Confusingly, she and Troy both glanced at Gabriella as she said this.

"Oh, I don't –," Gabriella started to stammer.

"Sorry," Troy said. "Private plans."

Brenda narrowed her eyes. "Doing what?"

"It's a surprise for Gabi," Troy said. _Smart, _Gabriella thought.

"Hmm." Brenda sniffed. "All right you can tell me later, Troy. I can be our little secret." She ran her manicured fingers down his arm and he twitched away.

Brenda tossed her pale blonde wings of hair and stared at Gabriella while Troy signed in. Gabriella balanced one foot on top of the other sneaker, feeling uneasy. Brenda's gaze traveled up and down, examining every inch of Gabriella.

"What's that?" Brenda said suddenly, darting toward and plucking at Gabriella's necklace.

"It's my necklace," Gabriella said, scooting back.

"You wear it all the time," Brenda said. "Even if it totally doesn't go with your outfit. Like now." After what Sharpay had said, Gabriella decided to dig out a shirt that wasn't red. And it was true. The dark purple color of her T-shirt didn't exactly match the glowing ruby red of the beads.

"Its – Troy gave it to me," Gabriella mumbled.

"Awww," Brenda said. "Only a week and already giving her jewelry? What a dashing boyfriend you are, Troysie. I hope your girlfriend is good enough for you. Kidding!"

"I gave it to her a while ago," Troy said, "Back when I was starting to figure out that I liked her but didn't know what to do about it yet."

Gabriella thought she must have been turning the same color as the beads. If only that were actually true!

"I have to get to tennis," she blurted, and took off at a sprint for the courts. Troy would have to handle the rest of the morning's interrogation without her.

Riley was warming up outside the fence by jogging in place. He had showed up on Wednesday with jean shorts that were clearly just jeans he'd cut the legs off of, but now he was wearing real shorts.

"Hey Gabi," he said. "Remember how we were talking about _Lost_ yesterday?" She vaguely remembered saying something about liking the show, but she wouldn't have called it a conversation. He rattled on without waiting for her to answer. "Well they're having a marathon tonight on TV, and I thought maybe we could watch it together, so you can explain it to me and maybe I'll see how good it is. Whatcha think? We could order pizza."

"Oh that sounds like fun, Riley," Gabriella said. "But I'm going out with Troy tonight. Sorry." She was half sorry and half not. She loved watching _Lost_, but it sounded a bit intimidating, just her and Riley hanging out.

"Awww," Riley said. "Sure you don't want to ditch him? This is the only night the marathon will be on!"

"I can't do that," Gabriella said. "But I can loan you the DVDs of Season One, if you want. What are you doing with Troy tonight, anyway?"

"We're going to the movies in town," Gabriella said.

Riley looked like he was going to try again to convince her, but just then Sharpay came up, linked her arm with Gabriella's, and tugged her away, whispering about plans for that night.

It wasn't until later, during lunch, that something had occurred to Gabriella. Had Riley been asking her on a date? TV and pizza wasn't a typical date…and he knew about Troy…but some people would call it a date. It was certainly the first time a boy has asked her to do something with just him.

What would she have said if she weren't pretend dating Troy? Would she want to date Riley? _But I don't like him that way. _Gabriella thought. _Do I? He doesn't make me feel all fizzy inside the way Troy does. He makes me nervous… but maybe that's what it's supposed to feel like, meeting a new guy you like. _

She didn't want to date anyone but Troy. But Troy didn't want to date her – and Riley did – maybe she should try it, for the experience. _I should be the only girl in high school who's never been kissed. _The thought of kissing Riley gave her butterflies in her stomach.

_Well, it doesn't matter anyway. _She told herself firmly. _He thinks I'm dating Troy. And now that I turned him down once, I doubt he'll ask again. _She glanced sideways at his shaggy mane of hair and his large hands. On her other side, Troy leaned forward to grab a napkin. His arm touched her and then stayed there, his skin brushing hers, for the rest of lunch.

Riley kept looking at her and trying to make her laugh. He even stole a couple of he carrot sticks. And every time she looked up, Gabriella found Brenda glaring at her. Brenda had been flirting with Riley all week, but she didn't seem to have noticed, but all Riley's attention was fixed on Gabriella. This surprised her as much as it did Brenda. If he spent a day at East High, he would realize that the difference in their social status, and then surely he'd lose interest in Gabriella immediately.

She sort of wished he would. She didn't like the way Brenda looked at her – as if Gabriella had stolen _two _of Brenda's boys, and now she would have to pay… one way or another.

She was able to push Riley and Brenda out of her mind as she sat in Troy's car. Their date was only a few hours away! Even a pretend was worlds more exciting that sitting at home with her parents and Chad for another Friday night, especially with her brother's ongoing weirdness.

"I'll be back at six," Troy said, pausing in the driveway. "With my tuxedo pressed and shoes shined."

"I should hope so," Gabriella said. "My ball gown wouldn't go with anything else."

He grinned and saluted as she made her way into the house.

"Hello?" she called as she went into the house. "Chad?"

"He's at the library," Mrs. Montez said, popping out of the den. "How was your day? Is the tennis getting more fun?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Not really. But I think I'm getting better at pool volleyball." She'd actually gotten a couple of serves over the net. Troy whooped and hollered, and Riley had applauded from the sidelines. Even Sharpay had given her a high-five.

Gabriela's mother hovered for a minute as if she was waiting for something to happen.

"Mom?" Gabriella said. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am," Mrs. Montez said. "Don't you want to go upstairs and drop off your things?"

Gabriella glanced at her shoulder bag and her tennis racket. "Yeah, okay. I thought I'd get a glass of water first."

"I'll get it," Mrs. Montez said, bolting for the kitchen. "You go upstairs."

"Mom, you're being bizarre!" Gabriella called after her. Shaking her head, she headed up the stairs and dropped her stuff inside her room.

Hanging from a hook on the outside of her closet was a dress. It was a shimmering burnt orange color, like autumn leaves, with a V-neck, a dropped waist, and thin ribbons of darker red around the waist and the knee-length hem. Gabriella touched it in awe. The fabric was soft and shiny but no clingy.

"Do you like it?" her mother asked from the doorway.

"Wow, Mom," Gabriella said. "I mean – wow."

"I hope it fits, Mrs. Montez said, sitting down on Gabriella's bed.

"Let's find out," Gabriella said. Slipping it off the hanger. It rustled like autumn leaves too as she slid it on. Her mom came over to help her zip up the back. It fit perfectly.

"How do you do that?" Gabriella said, spinning in front of the mirror. "It's amazing."

"Well, I just thought you should have something special for your first date," Mrs. Montez said, and then clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh! I wasn't going to say anything."

"That's okay," Gabriella said. She wanted to tell her mom the truth, but wouldn't her mom be disappointed that she'd gone to so much trouble for a fake date?

"I've been hoping you'd tell me about it yourself," Mrs. Montez said.

"Well, we're trying not to make it a big deal," Gabriella said, feeling awkward.

"I understand," her mom said, getting up and heading to the door. "I just want you to know – I've always thought you and Troy would make a perfect couple." She beamed at Gabriella as she shut the door behind her.

_Yeah, me too, _Gabriella thought.

_Now somebody tell Troy that. _

_**'Cause in the end it's only you and me and no one else is gonna be around  
To answer all the questions left behind  
And you and I are meant to be so even if the world falls down today  
-The Veronicas, "Untouched"**_

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Okay, I'm debating on whether or not to keep the contest going. I MIGHT put it on hold. If you have an opinion, a comment, or a question about the contest or about the chapter, review, please! You guys are great. Thank you so much for giving me so many review last chapter. **_**  
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	8. You Give Love a Bad Name

**I think it's useless saying sorry when I know I shouldn't be forgiven. But I'm sorry anyways. **

**Good news, I have all my documents recovered that were all my computer. Bad news, I still don't have my computer back. **

**Disclaimer: A million stars will not be and are not enough. **

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_**He's With Me – Chapter 7  
**__**You Give Love a Bad Name**_

The first thing Gabriella did was call Sharpay to tell her that her outfit had changed, which it turned out Sharpay had been planning as well. Then Gabriella showered, blow-dried her hair, put on her necklace and her vanilla-scented perfume that she almost never wore, painted her toenails dark red, and dressed. At six o'clock, she was sitting on the edge of a chair in the den, trying not to wrinkle her dress, even though her mother said the fabric was supposed to be wrinkle-proof.

"I told you that you don't have to dress up so much," Chad said from his prone position on the couch. "Troy will think it's weird."

"No, he won't," Gabriella snapped. Of course, this was what she'd been worrying about for the last two hours. But it was too late now.

The doorbell rang, and she leaped up to answer it before her mother could get there.

It was Sharpay. She squealed the instant she saw Gabriella.

"Oh my gosh! You look fantastic!"

"Come in," Gabriella said, blushing. "Troy's not here yet."

"What a hero you boyfriend is," Sharpay said. "My loser said he'd meet us there. Which means, by the way, that he'll have already bought his ticket, and I'll have to buy my own. Ian's a little unclear on some of the basic principles of dating."

Gabriella hadn't thought about that. Would Troy be paying for her? Maybe he'd have to, for appearances, and then she could pay him back.

"Hi Chad," Sharpay said as they entered the den. "Hey did I see you at the drug store yesterday?"

"No," he said quickly.

"I thought it was you," Sharpay said, "but I couldn't figure out why anyone would be buying notebooks and a protractor in the summertime so maybe I was wrong."

Gabriella gave Chad a puzzled look, but he didn't meet her eyes.

The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Troy. He looked freshly showered and his short-sleeved gray button-down made his eyes look all smoky and dark. He was holding a short, dark red rose.

"Holy smokes," he said. "You – that – you – uh… I like your dress."

Gabriella felt like she must have been turning the world's brightest shade of red.

"Hi Troy," she managed.

"This is for you," he said, handing her the rose. As she took it, their fingers brushed, and suddenly he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. It was soft and quick, like a butterfly bumping against her face. Guessing that that meant Sharpay was behind her, Gabriella glanced around, but they were alone in the hallway.

So...why did he - ?

"Troy! Stop loitering and come in here!" Chad called from the den.

"Thank you," Gabriella whispered, shutting the door behind Troy as he stamped his feet on the welcome mat. He looked quizzical, and she held up the flower.

"Oh my God," Sharpay said, poking her head in. "Did you get her that, Troy? That's unbelievable. Do you know how many times Ian has gotten me flowers? _Zero._ He's such a troglodyte. That was the Word of the Day today; isn't it cool? Man, look how perfect that rose is! You guys are too cute for words. Gabi, lets go find something to put it in." She fastened her hand around Gabriella's wrist and dragged her into the kitchen. Troy went into the den and Gabriella could hear the murmur of his voice and Chad's.

"How much does that guy adore you?" Sharpay said, pulling open cabinets. "I know Amy Sorrento a little from English and I don't think he ever got her flowers. I'm sorry; I shouldn't bring up the ex-girlfriend, should I? Don't worry; he never looks at her the way he looks at you. Oh, here, this should work." She fished out a small glass vase and helped Gabriella fill it with water.

Gabriella set the rose in the vase and gently touched the petals. It _was _perfect. Why couldn't this all be real?

They said good-bye to Chad and set off walking, not wanting to take Troy's car because it was a beautiful summer day. Sharpay chattered most of the way, so Gabriella didn't have to worry about what to say to Troy. Normally it was easy to talk to him, but this was different. This was a date. Sort of.

Ian Montgomery was standing in front of the movie theater, rocking on his heels. Unlike Troy, he was just wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans, and he looked like he hadn't showered for a while. He also didn't compliment Sharpay, although Gabriella thought Sharpay looked totally cute in her dark green sundress. And Sharpay had been right: He'd already bought his ticket, so she had to buy her own. Troy closed his hand over Gabriella's as she tried to pull money out of her purse.

"No, no," he said. "Let me do the boyfriend thing." He grinned and she smiled back.

"_Ahem._ The _boyfriend _thing, you say? You mean, taking your girlfriend to the movies, bringing he flowers, telling her she looks nice? Are there boyfriends who actually _do _that?"

"Hey, I'm here, aren't I?" Ian said grumpily. "Even though this movie looks super lame. You should be happy enough about that."

"Oh, I am," Sharpay said, taking his hand. "I fell _blessed_ to be _honored_ by your _presence_, I can't even handle it."

Gabriella giggled, but Ian huffed out a breath of air like he didn't get that she was joking.

Inside there was a confusing moment as they figured out where to sit. But Gabriella wound up sitting next to Troy and Sharpay, with Ian on the other side of Sharpay. Then Troy offered to go get popcorn, and Ian asked him to get some for him too. When Troy came back, he was also carrying a large soda and a box of Junior Mints for Gabriella.

"You like these, right?" he asked her as he sat down.

"They're my favorite, thank you," she said. On the other side, Sharpay sighed loudly, but Ian missed her meaningful look.

"I figured we could split the soda," Troy said, "but um, they were nearly out of straws, so I only took one. Is that gross? Do you mind?"

"No, that's okay," Gabriella said. As she took a sip, she realized it was Cherry Coke, the kind that she liked. Troy was a perfect pretend boyfriend. He should take notes for the next time he really dated someone. She looked down, suddenly feeling sad. She didn't want him to date anyone else. She didn't want to go back to being just Gabriella while someone else got to be Troy's girlfriend. And then Sally would pity her, and Brenda would be so smug.

The light went down and Troy leaned over. "Are you all right?" he whispered. "The soda seemed to really depress you."

She laughed. "Well it had such a sad childhood," she whispered back. "I feel like we're taking advantage of it."

"Nah, just putting it out of its misery." Troy said with a grin, and then the previews came on.

As the theater went totally dark and the movie started, Gabriella began to wonder what to do with her hands. Should she rest them on her knees? Or on the armrest? Was Troy thinking about holding her hand? She slid her eyes sideways without moving her head and saw that Sharpay and Ian were holding hands. Would Sharpay notice if she and Troy didn't? Should she do something, or wait for Troy to do something, or –

Troy reached over and took her hand, resting it on top of his on the armrest.

Okay. That answered that question. Of course, he'd been on dates like this before. He knew the right thing to do. Gabriella glanced sideways again and saw that Ian and Sharpay were kissing. And the movie had barely started! Surely they wouldn't expect her and Troy to do that. Would they?

An unfamiliar sensation brushed across her hand, and she nearly jumped out of her seat. Troy was slowly running his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. It felt like a secret code vibrating through her skin. Almost as if he was saying, "Don't worry, I'm here," and, "You're beautiful," and, "I can't resist you." Why was he doing that? What did it mean? Should she do something, too?

Gabriella knew she was being crazy, but her heart was ignoring her brain and had sped up to a million beats an hour. She could barely concentrate on the movie. Luckily it was a pretty short one, because by the end, she didn't think her heart could take it any more.

"Wasn't that great?" Sharpay enthused as the crowd spilled out on the street. "I knew it'll be great! It was so great!"

Gabriella wondered how Sharpay could have enjoyed the movie when she seemed to have spent so much of it kissing Ian. Then Sharpay stopped in her tracks and Ian had to drag her out of the way of the people behind her.

"Oh, _no_," Sharpay moaned. "What is _she _doing here?"

Brenda was standing outside the movie theater, arms folded. She looked long and slim and elegant as always, although the angry expression mad her much less pretty.

"Sharpay!" she hissed.

"Hey Brenda," Sharpay said nervously. "Look who we ran into."

"After all I've done for you, Brenda said, her voice as cold as ice. "I mad you popular. I got you a boyfriend. Don't you know I can take it all way like _that_?" She snapped her fingers.

Gabriella found herself unconsciously leaning into Troy, away from Brenda, and he put an arm around her in a protective way that she liked. Was this an act? Brenda seemed genuinely mad. Maybe Sharpay really had been keeping it a secret from her. But then how did Brenda know to show up there?

A suspicion struck her. Could Brenda have known from Riley?

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Sharpay said. "Don't be a drama queen, Brenda. I just wanted to go to the movies. You're not the be-all and end-all of my social life."

"You'll be lucky to _have _a social life after this," Brenda said. "Ian, come with me." She turned regally swinging her hair from her forehead.

"Please," Sharpay scoffed. "He's my boyfriend."

"Not if I don't want him to be," Brenda said. "Come along, Ian."

Ian hesitated, looking back and forth between the two girls. Sharpay's mouth dropped open. "For real?" she said. "Ian!"

"I can get you Amy Sorrento," Brenda said to him.

"Okay," Ian said with a shrug. "Maybe she won't fuss at me like this one does.

Troy snorted.

"You kiss like a wet fish, anyway!" Sharpay called as Ian trailed after Brenda. "Troglodyte!"

Troy and Gabriella exchanged uncomfortable glances. Gabriella wasn't sure what they were supposed to do. Sharpay wasn't exactly her friend but they couldn't just walk away after that.

"Oh my God," Sharpay huffed, blowing strands of hair out of her face. "What a waste of three months _that_ was. I'm sorry, you guys, we totally ruined your date."

"It's okay," Gabriella said. _Especially since it's not even a real date. _

"I guess you guys should go to dinner without me," Sharpay said. "I'll just go home and start cutting Ian out of photographs or something."

"That sound terrible, Sharpay," Gabriella said. "You should come with us." Besides, she had no idea what she and Troy would talk about for an entire dinner by themselves. Would they still act like it was a date? As long as Sharpay was there, she could keep pretending it really was.

"Yeah," Troy said halfheartedly.

"Oh, sure," Sharpay said. "Third-wheel on your one-week anniversary. I'm sure that's exactly what you want."

"We could call Chad," Gabriella said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to come join us. And then you wouldn't feel like a third wheel."

Sharpay brightened a little. "Really? Wouldn't that be weird?"

"He won't mind," Gabriella said. "Right, Troy?"

"Sure," Troy said. "I guess I can share you this once." He took her hand and squeezed it. She wondered what it meant.

Gabriella took out her cell phone, and called home. Although he grumbled a bit in his Chad way about being in the middle of filming, he managed to make it to the diner in record time. He slid into the booth, next to Sharpay, before they even had the chance to order.

"Hey Chad," Sharpay said. "Sorry to drag you out into the world on a Friday night. You'll never believe how I got ditched."

As she launched into the story of Ian and Brenda, Troy leaned sideways and tapped on the back of Gabriella's hand. She jumped.

"Want to share fries?" he said.

"Sure, okay," Gabriella answered. She thought it was interesting to watch Sharpay transform her whole three-month relationship with Ian into a funny story. It was as if Sharpay's life could be a TV show in her mind – something hilarious that happened to someone else. The way she described it to Chad, it really did seem funny. But Gabriella couldn't imagine doing that herself. When Troy went off to date someone else, she wouldn't be able to tell sidesplitting stories about pretending to be his girlfriend. She would just be sad.

After dinner, they went back to the Montez household and backed cookies, filming themselves on Colin's camera, until their mother finally announced that is was time for Sharpay and Troy to go home. Gabriella realized that she hadn't been worrying about how to act on the date for at least a couple of hours. It had been like any other night when Troy came over, except that Sharpay was there.

And there was one other difference. Gabriella walked Sharpay and Troy to the door, where Sharpay's mom was waiting outside in the car. Sharpay started down the porch steps but Troy hesitated in the doorway.

_Oh my God,_ Gabriella thought_. It's the end of the date. Don't real couples kiss at the end of a date? Will Sharpay think it's weird if we don't? Does it matter, even if she's not friends with Brenda anymore?_

Troy looked into her eyes, and Gabriella held her breath. On one hand, she wanted him to. Of course she wanted him to; she'd wanted Troy to kiss her for almost three years. But if this was her real kiss…she wanted it to be real. She wanted it to be important to the guy as well as her. She wanted Troy to kiss her because he wanted to, not because he was playing a role.

"Um, good night," she said quickly, stepping forward to hug him good-bye. Maybe that would let him know that he didn't have to do anything else.

His arms tightened around her and it seemed for a moment like time slowed down, and she could have stood there forever, pressed against him. She breathed in the smell of his hair and felt the warmth of his face right next to hers.

Finally he let go and stepped back, and she did too, trying to act casual, like that had been a perfectly ordinary hug.

"Okay. Good night," he said. He ducked his head, kissed her quickly on the cheek and then turned and jumping down the steps. Within moments, he vanished into the night.

And that was the end of Gabriella's first date.

_**Shot through the heart and you're to blame  
**__**You give love a bad name.  
**__**I play my part and you play your game.  
**__**You give love a bad name.  
**__**You give love a bad name.  
**__**-Bon Jovi, "You Give Love a Bad Name"**_

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OHHHH MYYYY GOSHHHH. SEVENTEEN AGAIN COMES OUT TODAY. I'm going to see it on Sunday. It looks like a great movie. SOOO EXCITED.

**Anyways, I'm discontinuing my CONTEST. I'm sorry. But please review. YAY. 17 again. Hehe. I'm a little obsessed even though I haven't seen it yet. Zac Efron is totally amazing. Oh, man, Matthew Perry. Love that dude, especially when he was in **_**Friends.**_** He's awesome. And so are the Jonas Brothers, especially Nick. :)**


	9. Hate, I Really Don't Like You

**Okay guys. So since I got so many reviews and I never thought that my story would reach 100 reviews, here's another chapter. And since I have free time. And since I haven't been updating that much lately and this is a short chapter. And since I'm so hyped up for 17 AGAIN!! I'm going to see it tomorrow and I can't wait! YAY! So blame this chapter for being up on 17 Again, which could either be a good or bad thing. You take your pick. **

**Disclaimer: Never have I ever… owned High School Musical. (sigh)**

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He's With Me – Chapter 8  
_**Hate (I Really Don't Like You)**_

Gabriella spent most of Saturday in a hammock in her backyard, reading library books while Thorn snoozed on her stomach. Chad shut himself in his room and didn't come out until dinnertime, and then he wouldn't tell her what he had been doing. _Fine then,_ Gabriella thought. _You keep your secrets and I'll keep mine. _

Sunday morning at breakfast, her dad announced that he wanted them to wash the car. Chad groaned and slammed his head onto the table.

"Come on, champ," Mr. Montez said, clapping his son on the shoulder. "It'll be fun, right, Gabi? Oh, you guys might want to wear your bathing suits."

Gabriella giggled. Last time they'd been given this chore, she and Chad wound up wetter than the car in the end. He hated it, but she thought it was kind of fun. Especially when it was hot and sunny outside, like it was that day.

Her dad pulled the car out of the garage into the driveway and got buckets and sponges while Chad and Gabriella changed. Gabriella put on her black bathing suit with jean shorts and flip-flops and clipped her hair up out of the way with a large silver butterfly clip. When she went downstairs, her mom looked disappointed.

"I was hoping I'd finally get to see the bikini I bought you." Mrs. Montez said.

"Sorry, Mom," Gabriella said feeling guilty. "I figured since I'd be getting messy, this one was better." She hurried through the screen door before her mom could argue with her.

Chad was already inside the car, vacuuming between and under the seats. Gabriella changed the pine-scented tree that hung in the front window, and then she wiped down all the hard surfaces. As soon as Chad finished, she ran to get the hose.

"Stand back," she warned, and he jumped out of the way. Gabriella turned on the hose, and her dog Alanna immediately came running over to throw herself under the spray.

"Alanna!" Gabriella protested, trying to point the hose away. The pug woofed and chased the water across the driveway, running frantically around the car to get to it. Gabriella started laughing, so she didn't see the person standing at the bottom of the driveway until she whirled around and sprayed water all over him.

"Hey!"

"Oops!" Gabriella shut off the hose immediately, but it was too late. Riley was thoroughly drenched. And, as he had been the first time she'd seen him, he was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, which weren't likely to dry fast.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry!" Gabriella cried. "I didn't see you there."

"Dude you totally soaked me," Riley said. He didn't sound too happy.

"Who's he?" Chad asked. Gabriella shoved the hose into his hands.

"Wait here," she called to Riley. She ran inside, grabbed a towel from the linen closet, and ran back out. By then Riley had pulled off his dripping shirt and was wringing it out.

"Here," she said, handing him the towel. "I'm really sorry. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd stop by and say hey," Riley said, rubbing his hair with the towel, "I didn't know your driveway was a water hazard."

"How'd you know where I live?" she asked.

"It isn't hard to figure out," he said. He kicked off his sneakers, pulled off his socks, and dried his feet.

"Who's this?" Chad asked again, coming up behind Gabriella.

"This is Riley," Gabriella said. _You'd know all about him if you ever bothered to ask me about how tennis camp was. _"Riley, this is my brother, Chad."

"Hey," Riley said. Chad just nodded.

"Here, if we put your shirt here, it'll dry faster," Gabriella said. She took Riley's shirt from him and draped it over the porch railing, into the sun. He dropped his socks and sneakers on the step.

"So what are you doing?" he said. "Apart from soaking innocent bystanders?"

"We're washing the car," Gabriella said.

"Want to help?" Chad offered.

"Chad!" Gabriella said. "I'm _sure_ Riley doesn't want to wash our car with us." And she wasn't sure she wanted him to stick around that long, especially shirtless. He kept giving her his crooked smile, like he thought she had deliberately gotten him to take his shirt off. As if! Sure, he was cute, but she'd seen him and Troy next to each other at the pool, and Troy was much cuter. In her opinion, anyway.

"I'd love to," Riley said. "Hand me that hose." He smirked.

"Don't even think about it," Gabriella said, backing up. "Riley, don't you dare!" she ducked behind the car just as he grabbed the hose from Chad and turned it on her. He chased her around the car and she fled shrieking down the driveway, straight into Troy's arms.

"Whoa," he said, catching her elbows, and they were both caught in the spray as Riley deluged them.

Gabriella shoved her wet hair back, laughing. Troy was looking over her shoulder at Riley, and he wasn't smiling.

"Oops," Riley said. "You caught us." He grinned and spread his arms like he was being held at gunpoint.

"Caught you doing what?" Troy asked. Gabriella wondered the same thing. Why would Riley put it like that?

There was an awkward pause. Troy was still holding on the Gabriella's elbows. Chad glanced at each of them, looking confused.

"I got Riley wet by accident," Gabriella said. "He just stopped by, and he wanted to help wash the car…um…" Why did it suddenly sound so lame and unbelievable?

"Yeah, man, sorry," Riley said. "We're just having fun. It's not what it looks like."

_Not what it looks like? _Gabriella thought. _Doesn't it look like we're washing the car? There's nothing to feel weird about here. Right?_

"What are you up to?" Gabriella said, trying to sound casual, although it was difficult while Troy still had her pinned.

"Maybe I can stay and help, too," Troy said. "After all, now I'm as wet as you guys." He glanced down at Gabriella and smiled. "Hey girlfriend." He gave her a wet, squishy hug and she hid her smile in his chest.

"I saw Riley ride by in this direction," he whispered in her ear. "So I figured I'd come to make sure he wasn't bothering you. Hope that's okay."

"Of course," she said softly. "As long as you had a good heroic reason for coming. We wouldn't want you to stop by just to say hi or anything crazy."

Troy winked at her and then slung his arm over her shoulder as they went back up the driveway. He and Riley exchanged dark glances as they passed, but Troy bent down and grabbed a sponge without commenting.

"Hey Chad," he said. "I've been reading about _The Matrix_ some more. Did you know that some of the scenes in the movie are based on scenes in Japanese anime movies? I think we're going to have to rent _Ghost in the Shell_ and _Akira_ to compare. Animefest, what do you think, Gabi?"

"Sure, sound awesome," she said. He tossed her a sponge and then threw another one over to Riley, a little harder, so that soap bubbles splattered across Riley's chest.

"Come on Riley," Troy said cheerfully. "Let's wash this car."

Between the four of them, it took almost no time at all. Gabriella noticed that Riley was a lot more subdued now that Troy was there. He didn't try to spray her again, and he mostly acted like her really wanted to get out of there. But whenever he say her looking at him, he'd give her that crooked smile, and he kept edging over to work closer to her.

"Oh my heavens," a voice said from behind them. Gabriella turned to find her parents standing on the porch. Mrs. Montez put her hands on her hips. "How did you all get so wet?"

"Serves me right for putting teenagers and a hose together on a hot day," Mr. Montez said with a grin.

"_I_ didn't get wet," Chad pointed out in a superior voice.

"We could always fix that, you know," Gabriella threatened.

"I think that is quite enough," Mrs. Montez said quickly.

"Yes, good work, kids," Gabriella's dad said. "The car looks great."

"Troy, would you like to join us for cookies?" her mom added. "Freshly homemade!"

Riley popped out from behind the car and Gabriella's mom jumped.

"Cookies?" Riley said. "Did someone say cookies?"

"Who is _this_?" Mr. Montez asked. Neither he nor Gabriella's mom looked thrilled about having a strange, shirtless boy in their driveway.

"That's Riley." Gabriella said. "He's in tennis camp with us."

"Oh," Mrs. Montez said. "That's nice. Come on in."

Gabriella was relieved to see Riley put his shirt back on before they all trooped into the house. He was sort of jumpy around her parents, like he wasn't sure what they would think of him, but he said all the right polite things about the cookies. He bolted out of his chair as soon as he was done.

"Well, I gotta run," he said. "See you tomorrow, Gabi."

"Yup, we'll see you tomorrow," Troy said, scooting his chair next to Gabriella's. Gabriella risked a glance at her mother, who was washing dishes in the sink and pretending not to pay attention. Gabriella was sure she spotted a tiny smile on her face.

"Bye Riley," Gabriella said.

The screen door banged behind him.

"Have I mentioned that I really don't like that guy?" Troy asked.

_**Brought you around,  
and you just brought me down.  
Hate is a strong word,  
but I really, really, really don't like you.  
**__**-Plain White T's, "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)"**_

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Like this chapter? Hate this chapter? Review! And thanks so much for giving me over 100 reviews. I personally did not like this chapter but it was necessary to show how much Troy doesn't like Riley and that Riley is a STALKER. Man, I hate that guy.

**Oh, and I LOVED all your reviews about 17 Again. Just makes me want to see it more that I already do! Tomorrow! YAY! Can't wait!**


	10. Teardrops on My Guitar

**Okay, so I'm so very sorry for not updating. It's the end of the school year and projects and finals and sports.. and ugh. I'm getting so stressed. I was thinking of updating after I watched 17 Again but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Totally irresponsible of me I know. But here's the reason why: I thought about it. And this story truly belongs to only Tamara Summers. Not me. And I can't explain how it feels to take credit for someone else's work. I hate doing it. I don't like the fact that I'm getting so many reviews for a story not written by me but other people have plots that was made originally by them and not getting as much reviews. So I'm asking you guys, as the READERS, to decide whether or not I should continue with this story. Because I will if you guys want it. I know that there are not many copies of this book and I'm not necessarily sure if there is in other countries. This story will be then solely for the readers' entertainment only. Thanks for reading this very long author's note if you did. Because to me, it's important. You guys probably would care less. I will try to update during the summer if you guys still want me to continue. **

**17 Again was totally amazing, btw. I loved every second of it. Wish I could see it again. Zac's becoming a better actor with each movie. Too bad him and Vanessa didn't win Best Kiss for the MTV awards. HUGE disappointment. Twilight won like everything. I like Twilight. But I feel like they should have won Best Song (Paramore is amazing. Can't believe they lost to Miley :( even if I do like Miley Cyrus, I like Paramore a lot more) and gave the Best Kiss award to Zac and Vanessa cuz I was totally waiting for them to make out on stage. Which should have happened. Zac and Vanessa presented really well. I loved Zac's speech about Ben Stiller and Kiefer Sutherland. And a huge CONGRATS to Zachary for winning Best Male Performance. He totally deserved it. I love reviewing stuff. And I'm sorry for this really long author's note.**

**Dedicated to: Kimberley - New Classic. For your amazing PM. The only reason I didn't stop this story after I hated myself for taking credit for someone else's work. You can thank for for this chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I acknowledge the fact that this story DOES NOT belong to me. And neither do the characters. And the songs don't belong to me. So basically nothing in this story belongs to me. **

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He's With Me – Chapter 9  
Teardrops on My Guitar

On Monday, Brenda was leaning against the check-in booth as Troy and Gabriella came up the path from the parking lot. It was a horribly hot day; Gabriella already felt tired and sweaty from the sun. She missed the nice, cool air conditioning in Troy's car. But Brenda looked cool and crisp, like a tall glass of evil lemonade. She was wearing her lacy bikini, with a white sarong looped around her waist and white slip-on sandals on her feet. Her sunglasses looked giant on her and reflected light in a metallic way, hiding her eyes. Even so, Gabriella could feel them on her, a grim stare full of scheming and revenge plans, as she walked closer.

"Oh, hi, Gabi," Brenda said with a sweet smile as they walked up. "Can I talk you for a second – just us girls?" She wrapped her hands around Troy's upper arm and leaned playfully into him. "You don't mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute do you, Troysie?"

"Uh," Troy started. Gabriella could tell he was as confused as she was. Were they supposed to pretend the fight with Sharpay on Friday night hadn't happened?

"Just for a minute," Brenda said, tousling her hair. "I'm sure you two can be apart for one minute without your cuteness dropping to dangerously low levels." She linked her arm through Gabriella's. "We need some _girl time_."

Troy stepped forward as if to pull Gabriella away, but Brenda marched her off down the path toward the tennis courts too fast for either of them to object.

"Gabi," Brenda whispered with fake enthusiasm and suddenly stopping. "I heard a rumor that Troy's birthday is this Wednesday! Oh my God! You must be so excited. What a great opportunity to show what a terrific girlfriend you are, right? I'm sure you have something really amazing planned, don't you?"

Gabriella's heart sank. She had managed not to think about it all weekend, but now Troy's birthday was only two days away, and she still didn't have a present for him. Brenda had zeroed in on her biggest worry.

"Um..." she said, "Well, I..."

"I just wanted you to know," Brenda said, "that I am here to help. I love party planning and I am so good at it. I mean, you are throwing him a party, right? Guys love parties, especially surprise parties! Is it going to be at your house? Because if you want, we could have it at my house. My house is enormous and my parents are never home so they won't care."

"Oh, I don't..." Gabriella started again.

"We have a ton of food, so don't worry about that. And I can take care of inviting everyone. I'll make sure it's the right guest list. All you have to do is find a way to get him to my house. You're clever; you'll think of something." Brenda shook her hair back from her face and smiled, the sunlight glinting off her sunglasses.

"And buy him a perfect present, of course. But I'm sure you already have that covered."

"But wait," Gabriella said, "what if… I don't think he wa-,"

"Wednesday, six o' clock," Brenda said brightly. "Everyone will be there, so don't forget. It's going to be a great party. He'll feel so lucky to have you for his girlfriend." She patted Gabriella once on the head and then turned and swept back down the path. Sharpay passed her on the way, but Brenda tilted her nose up and looked away as if Sharpay were too insignificant to notice.

"What was that all about?" Sharpay asked coming up to Gabriella. "Are you okay? You look kind of pale."

"Can you hold on for a second? I need to call home." Gabriella responded.

"Sure." Sharpay said.

Gabriella fished her cell phone out of her bag and dialed her home number quickly.

Her mom answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom, Can I talk to Chad?"

"He's not here, dear. What's wrong?"

"He's not there? Where is he?" Gabriella was puzzled. Chad never got up that early on his own, and as far as she knew, he didn't have anywhere to go. She wondered if this had anything to do with whatever he'd been hiding from her the other day.

"I can tell him you called," Mrs. Montez said. "But maybe I can help with something?"

"No, that's okay," Gabriella said. "I'll talk to him when I get home. Bye, Mom."

Her mom sighed. "Bye Gabi."

Gabriella ended the call and put her phone back in her bag. How could Chad not be there? She needed his advice so badly. Or Taylor's. That was who Gabriella really wanted to talk to - a girl who understood how complicated this was. What was she supposed to do now? She didn't want to lure Troy to Brenda's for a surprise party. But if they didn't show up, it would be weird and embarrassing. And she had to come up with an idea for a present - an idea that said "girlfriend," not "best friend's sister."

"Come on," Sharpay said, looping her arm through Gabriella's and leading her to the tennis courts. "Tell me all about it as we walk. What's Brenda done now?"

Gabriella found herself explaining Brenda's whole party scheme. By the time they reached the tennis courts, Sharpay was shaking her head.

"That's so typical of Brenda," she said. "She thinks she's being generous, but she just ends up being controlling and scary." Gabriella somehow doubted that Brenda was trying to be generous with this plan, but she didn't say anything. Sharpay and Brenda might still make up and be friends again, after all.

"And don't even try to tell her you want to do things your own way," Sharpay continued. "She can't stand people disagreeing with her." Gabriella put down her tennis racket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "I don't know, Gabi, you might have to go."

"Seriously?" Gabriella asked. Somehow she'd expected Sharpay to tell her not to go.

"Well, unless you want to tell her yourself that you don't want to," Sharpay said. "Or just let her plan it and not show up, which would be kind of rough. But listen, it won't be that bad. Her parties always have great food and they have Ping-Pong and foosball in the basement. You could show up for a couple of hours and then take Troy out for ice cream afterward, just the two of you."

Gabriella felt ill. That sounded like some serious concentrated Brenda time, which meant a ton of opportunities for Brenda to do something mean to her.

"Don't worry,'' Sharpay said. ''Brenda's crazy, but she's not evil."

_I'm not so sure about that_, Gabriella thought.

"Hey," Riley said, running up to them. "I had fun on Sunday," he said to Gabriella.

Sharpay raised her eyebrows.

"Washing my parents' car," Gabriella said quickly. "With Troy and Chad."

"Yeah, too bad," Riley whined. "We might have had more fun just the two of us." He gave her hands a quick squeeze and then walked away.

"What a flirt," Sharpay whispered. When Gabriella's eyes widened, she added, "I mean him, not you. Like she's taken pal, back off. Right?"

Gabriella rubbed her hands and stared at Riley's retreating back. Did he really like her _that _way? He seemed to... but why? He thought she was with Troy, so he shouldn't be flirting with her. It was all very confusing.

That afternoon they began the water volleyball tournament that Cynthia had been talking about. Gabriella's team won their game, which made Troy splash around triumphantly in a totally adorable way.

As he dropped her off at home, Troy said "Hey, Gabi, ask Chad about watching those anime movies this weekend, okay?"

"Sure," she said. She watched him drive away, waving when he looked back right before turning off onto his street.

To her surprise, Alanna and Thorn were on the porch. Their leashes were tied to the railing, and their squashed little faces were pressed against the screen door as if they'd been yearning to go back inside for days and days.

"Hey, guys," Gabriella said, crouching down and unclipping them ''What are you doing out here?''

She scratched behind their ears and they both tried to climb on her knees to sniffle at her face. The instant she swung the door open, both pugs bolted toward the living room. There was a yelp and then a thud. Gabriella ran in after them and found her mother in a contorted position on the carpet with the dogs clambering all over her.

"Mom?" she gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Montez said, untangling herself. She reached for the remote and paused the DVD. Gabriella realized that the people on-screen were all in leotards and were now frozen in the same weird position.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm trying to do yoga," her mother said. "But certain dogs are making it very difficult." Alanna snorted and wagged her tail triumphantly.

"Yoga?" Gabriella said, dropping her bag inside the door. "I thought you went to a class for that.''

"Well, I got this DVD, so I thought I'd try it. It's very good if you can get through it without having your face licked off." Her mom gave Thorn a stern look, but the pug just sat there with a goofy expression.

"Can I watch?" Gabriella said. "Maybe I can distract the dogs."

"Of course," her mother said delightedly. "You can even join me if you like. I just started."

"Um… okay," Gabriella said. She had to admit she was curious. She sat down on the carpet next to her mother and Mrs. Montez skipped back to the beginning of the DVD.

"So how was tennis today?" she asked.

"The same," Gabriella replied. She imitated her mother's cross-legged position, trying to sit up tall and keep her back straight. The woman on the TV was yammering about breathing.

"Anything exciting happening?"

Gabriella debated with herself for a minute and then decided to share a small part of her problem with her mom.

"It's Troy's birthday on Wednesday," Gabriella said, "and I have to get him a present."

"Ah," Her mother shook her head. "I made the same mistake with your father."

"Mistake?" Gabriela repeated.

"Starting to date him right before his birthday. Trying to come up with the perfect gift when you barely know a guy – it's terrible!"

"I wouldn't say I _barely know_ Troy," Gabriella pointed out.

"Of course, dear. And he must be easier to shop for than your dad. I can't even get that man a tie without earning a lecture on appropriate colors for the office."

"Well, I thought the orange was cool," Gabriella said loyally. Dad had to buy all his own ties since that Christmas.

"Think about what Troy likes," Mrs. Montez said, "and what he's interested in. Something personal is always better than something expensive."

Then they had to stop talking because the woman on-screen was explaining a position called the Downward Dog, which, as far as Gabriella could tell, was named that because it brought her mom's face down close to the floor, where Thorn and Alanna could easily lick it.

She through about what her mother had said.

What did Troy like?

_If only the answer was me…_

'_**Cause he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing who's got enough of me to break my heart  
He's the song in the car I keep singing  
Don't know why I do.  
And he's the time taking up and there's never enough,  
And he's all that I need to fall into.  
-Taylor Swift, "Teardrops on My Guitar"**_


	11. Far Away

**HELLO! I'm back. I'm so very sorry that I haven't updating in the past 2 months. I've been on vacation. But, I'm back. :D**

**Who watched the Teen Choice Awards?? I loved Ellen DeGeneres's video with Zac and Vanessa sitting next to each other. And Zac's arm around Vanessa. Congrats to Zac for winning 3 awards! Speaking of videos… there's this recent video with Zac and Vanessa dancing during a Kings of Leon concert! So cute…**

**Disclaimer: I wish…as much as I wish that the Jonas Brothers are mine…**

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_**He's With Me – Chapter 10  
Far Away**_

Brenda wasn't taking any chances. At lunch on Wednesday, she sat down across from Gabriella and Troy, even though Sharpay was on the other side of Gabriella. Sharpay and Gabriella exchanged glances. Brenda hadn't spoken to Sharpay since the incident at the movies, but Sharpay still seemed to think they'd make up soon. Gabriella wasn't sure where she'd gotten that idea, since Gabriella had never seen Brenda forgive _anyone_, but Sharpay kept cheerfully saying, "Oh, Brenda will come around."

"Sharpay's an optimist," Chad had said when Gabriella had told him about that. "She can't tell when people are genuinely evil because she's too nice to be evil herself. That's exactly the kind of person that genuinely evil types like the best."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Gabriella had asked.

"It's in plenty of movies," Chad said with a shrug, keeping his eyes on their video game. "Sharpay's like Queen Amidala in Star Wars. She couldn't tell Anakin was going evil until it was too late, because she was too good of a person herself."

"Queen Amidala?" Gabriella said. "Sharpay has _way_ better fashion sense than her."

But perhaps Chad was right about Sharpay's people sense. When Brenda sat down, Sharpay said, "Hey Brenda, how's it going?" and held out her bag of Mini Oreos. "Want one?"

Brenda ignored her.

"Where's Riley?" she asked Gabriella.

"I'm not sure," Gabriella said, glancing at Sharpay.

"Oh," Brenda said. "I thought you might know."

_Why? _Gabriella wondered. "Mr. Giambi probably kept him to help find the tennis balls he knocked into the bushes," she said. "He seemed kind of mad about that."

"Oh, Gabriella, dear," Brenda said, all sugary and fake, "That reminds me. Don't forget to come by and borrow that book tonight." She winked in a really obvious way. "I should be home by six. So _don't _forget. It's very important."

"What book?" Troy asked. Gabriella could understand his confusion. For one, why would Brenda lend Gabriella a book? Why would Brenda even _own_ a book?

"Um…" she said. Brenda narrowed her eyes, and smiled at Gabriella, leaving her to flounder through a lame explanation. "Um…" Gabriella said again. "It's… it's about volleyball…water volleyball, you know, for the tournament."

Sharpay choked on her soda and got up quickly. Gabriella could see her shoulders shaking with laughter as she hurried off to the bathroom.

"They have books about pool volleyball?" Troy asked skeptically.

"They do," Brenda said, "and Gabriella is going to borrow mine."

"Okay…" Troy said. "Anything to give us a competitive edge. We're going to win this thing, right, Gabi?"

"Absolutely," she said, and he stole a carrot stick from her, grinning.

Gabriella glanced across the table at Brenda, but the girl was delicately crunching a piece of celery and didn't look like she was going anywhere. And really, the whole point of Gabriella's present for Troy was to prove her girlfriend status to Brenda, so she might as well give it to him in front of her, no matter how awkward it made her feel.

"Here," she said, pulling a wrapped gift out of her shoulder bag and handing it to Troy. "Happy birthday!"

Troy looked surprised. "But-"

"I know we haven't been dating long," Gabriella said, trying to communicate, S_hut up and open it,_ with her eyes. "But hopefully you'll like it."

They'd already had a mini-birthday breakfast that morning, at Gabriella's house. Her mom had made banana pancakes for her and Troy and Chad and they'd stuck a candle in one and all sang "Happy Birthday" completely off-key. Troy had probably thought that was the extent of his birthday celebrations. Boy, was he going to be surprised.

"Wow, thanks," he said, pulling off the ribbon. "You didn't have to do this."

"Of course she did," Brenda interjected. "She's your _girlfriend_, Troysie."

"Yeah…" Gabriella said. "Exactly."

"Oh," he said. "Ah." Then as he ripped of the wrapping paper, "Wait, is this…Tupperware?"

"Cool, right?" Gabriella asked. "You can put food inside it, and it'll stay fresh. Isn't that a great idea? And look, the container is purple."

Troy cocked his head to the side in confusion and she shook her head at him, laughing.

"No, I didn't give you Tupperware for your birthday. Open the container, doofus."

He peeled back the plastic lid, and his face lit up exactly the way Gabriella had been hoping it would. Inside, nestled in rows across the bottom, were eighteen small chocolate cupcakes. On the top of each one, Gabriella had written a letter in white chocolate frosting, so they spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY!

"Oh my gosh," he said. "Gabi, this is amazing. It's almost too cool to eat."

"I hope not, because I'm planning to help you eat them," Gabriella said.

"What?" Brenda demanded impatiently. "Let me see!"

Troy tilted the contained toward her so she could see the cupcake message. He had cute, triumphant-looking smile on his face. Gabriella guessed that she had played her part perfectly.

"Cupcakes?" Brenda said. "How…sweet. What a clever way to save money, Gabi. I'm sure Troy appreciates your…thriftiness."

"It's the best present I've ever gotten," Troy said, seeing Gabriella starting to deflate. He took the first mini cupcake out, peeled away the cup and bit off half of it. Then he held out the other half to Gabriella.

"Thanks," she said, turning pink. He batted her hand away gently and made her open her mouth so he could pop it in.

Chad and Sharpay had helped her bake them, with her mom supervising. Gabriella suspected more chocolate had gone into those two than into the cupcakes, but at least they'd ended up with eighteen good enough to give to Troy.

"So what else did you get him?" Brenda asked. "Anything…lasting?" Her expression seemed to be saying _Or is your relationship going to be as short-lived as these cupcakes? _

"I hope you didn't get me anything else," Troy said. "This is perfect enough for me."

The truth was Gabriella did have another present for him in her pocket. But she was less sure about that one. She'd bought it a while before because it had made her think of him when she'd seen it, but she'd never found the opportunity to give it to him. But then, the day before, she'd shown it to Sharpay, who was convinced that he would love it. If he didn't there was no way for Gabriella to get it back. And she kind of liked hiding it in her shoe box, next to the origami whale.

"I – I thought I would give it to him later," Gabriella said.

"Oh… in private?" Brenda asked snidely.

Gabriella nodded.

"Uh-huh," Brenda said. "I'm sure." She clearly didn't believe that Gabriella had anything else, but Gabriella didn't want to prove it badly enough to give Troy this present in front of her.

"Well," Brenda said, collecting her lunch remains, "You can tell me what it is later, Troysie. See you at six, Gabriella, dear - oh, and try and be punctual, will you?"

She swept off, evidently feeling that she'd seen enough. Gabriella felt sick just thinking about the evening. Who would Brenda have invited? How would Troy react? He didn't love big gatherings of people any more than she did, although he was better at navigating through them. She wished there was a way to get out of it, but she hated the idea of a bunch of people standing around Brenda's house wondering where they were and blaming Gabriella for ruining the party.

"You don't have to give me anything else," Troy said seriously, taking her hand. "I really love the cupcakes."

"And Brenda was convinced, don't you think?" Gabriella said. "That was girlfriendy of me, wasn't it?"

Troy looked down at their hands. "Yeah, it was," he said. "Good job. You, uh, nearly had me fooled, too."

"I do have something else," Gabriella said. "But it might be kind of stupid. I don't know if you'll want it. If you don't want it, just give it back to me."

Troy grinned. ''I'm sure if you picked it, it's awesome.''

Hesitantly, she pulled a small cloth bag out of her shorts pocket and placed it in his hand. He untied the strings and poured out the contents onto the lunch table. A leather cord slithered out, and the small white whale strung on it made a clicking nose against the wood.

Troy touched the little whale, his smile growing. Gabriella thought it was made of whalebone or shell; anyway, it felt smooth and was polished to a shine. Its little tail was lifted in a happy way, and tiny flippers were carved in the side.

"It's a necklace," Gabriella said, "but it's supposed to be a guy necklace. That's what the salesperson told me. But you don't have to wear it; I know it's weird to get a guy, jewelry. I thought Brenda might make fun of me if I gave it to you in front of her, but it made me think of you, because of the origami whale. But if you don't like it I can totally take it back…''

"Gabi, I love it," he said, interrupting her babbling. "Will you put it on for me?"

She blinked at him as he lifted the leather cord around his neck. ''Really?''

"Yeah, of course," he said. "I want to show off my girlfriend's awesome taste."

He scooted around with his back to her, so he didn't see her face as she took the ends of the cord. She felt so strange, finally giving this to him. What if he thought it was just a pretend present? What if he had no idea that it actually meant something to her? How could he know? She had always imagined giving this to him and telling him at the same time that she'd liked him for ages, and that she'd been saving the necklace all that time. But she obviously couldn't tell him that now. He thought they were only pretending.

She tied the ends of the cord in a knot, carefully keeping a finger between the knot and his hair so she wouldn't catch any of the soft, brown hairs on the back of his neck.

It looked perfect on him. The whale hung just below the hollow of his throat, and it didn't look girly at all, which Gabriella was worried about. Troy just looked more handsome, like he'd walked straight out of some CW beach show.

"Thanks Gabi," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt the muscles of his back below her palms.

"This is the greatest birthday I've ever had," he declared.

_I hope you still think so after tonight…_

_**I love you.  
I've loved you all along.  
I miss you.  
Been far away for far too long.  
I keep dreaming, you'll be with me,  
And you'll never go.  
I'll stop breathing,  
If I don't see you anymore.  
-Nickelback, "Far Away"

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I promise that the next chapter will come sooner than this chapter. **


	12. That's What You Get

**HELLO...again… I really really really really wanted to thank you guys for sticking with this story even though I haven't updated in months before the last chapter. And that's why this chapters out as a huge thank you. Oh, and thank you so much for the many reviews! Although I don't really deserve it.. but yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I will never own Disney or Tamara Summers and her publishing company. I'm moving on and dealing with it though.

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_**He's With Me – Chapter 11  
That's What You Get**_

"Have I mentioned that I don't get this?" Troy said as he tried to find a parking space. "Tell me again why you're borrowing a book from Brenda?"

Gabriella shrugged. "It seemed easier than saying no to her." Well, that part was actually true. Luckily, Troy insisted on coming with her; he didn't want to leave her with Brenda, which she appreciated.

"I guess." Troy said. "Man, her house is huge."

He parked his car near the fence beside the driveway. The path up to Brenda's front door was made of neat zigzagging bricks and wound around several flower beds before reaching the tall marble columns and gigantic gilt-encrusted doorway.

"Isn't this a little weird?" Troy whispered to Gabriella as they followed the path. "Like they're forcing their guests to take the scenic route and admire the flowers? What if you just want to get to the front door already?"

"Maybe it's a test to see if you _really_ want to get there," Gabriella joked.

"I'm guessing they don't have many visitors then," Troy said with a wink and a smile. Gabriella felt like her heart just melted on the spot. But when she got to the door, she found enough strength to ring the doorbell. There was a long pause and then the curtain beside the door was whisked aside and a nervous female face – red-haired, big-nosed – peeked out before getting yanked back.

Another pause.

The door opened.

The redhead was standing there bobbing and bowing, looking terrified. She was wearing a shapeless maid's uniform and an apron that she kept twisting in her hands.

"Oh, get out of the way, Greta," Brenda snapped, popping out from behind the door. "How hard is it to let a guest in? I mean, seriously. _Hello_, Troy."

"Hey," he said, taking Gabriella's hand.

Gabriella felt instantly awkward, as she was sure Brenda had intended. She was still wearing her bathing suite from that day, with a white T-shirt and red shorts over it. Brenda, on the other hand, was wearing a sleeveless, formfitting white sheath dress that had side slits all the way up her legs and an oval cutout from her neck nearly half-way down her chest. Her shoes were very high white espadrilles. She looked like she had just stepped out of a movie. Gabriella glanced down at her shoes, embarrassed.

"Come on back to the pool," Brenda said. She pushed her sleek blond hair back and waved her hand, leading the way through the cavernous house.

"I guess her obsessions are genetic," Troy whispered to Gabriella. The whole house was white – white leather couches, white marble staircases, white lampshades, white bearskin rugs. The only art on the walls were large black-and-white photographs of Brenda, her older sister, and her parents, all in frozen poses with perfect golden smiles. Gabriella got the impression that if she touched anything, she'd either break it or leave dirty fingerprints all over it.

Brenda flung open the double doors to the patio, whirled around, and cried, "Surprise!"

"_Surprise!_" yelled the crowd of people gathered outside. There were about thirty people gathered around the people. Gabriella recognized some of them from school, but she wasn't sure that she'd spoken to half of them. She wondered if Troy had.

Troy's mouth dropped open.

"Happy birthday, Troysie," Brenda cooed. She wrapped her hands around his arm and tugged him away from Gabriella. "Come on, say hello to everyone. They're here to celebrate you! Gabi can have you back later."

Troy gave Gabriella a baffled look and she spread her hands helplessly. "It was Brenda's idea," she said.

"Of course it was," Brenda said. "I just _love_ throwing parties. And Gabi didn't have any idea what to do, so I thought I should help." She dragged Troy down the patio steps to the edge of the pool where a group of sporty types started slapping him on the back and offering him drinks.

Gabriella glanced around and much to her relief spotted Chad all by himself on a lounge chair.

"Thank God you're here," she said, sitting on the edge of the chair next to him.

"I can't believe you talked me into this," he muttered, poking the ice in his glass with a small pink umbrella.

"Hey, this is your entire fault, Mr. Bright Ideas," Gabriella said. "You're the reason Brenda is out to get me, so the least you can do is show up to one party."

"You should have seen the look on her face," he said with a grin. "When she opened the door and say me there – I seriously thought she was going to pretend like I was invisible and just slam the door shut again. But I was like, 'Hey Brenda, thanks for throwing the cool party,' and walked right in."

"You didn't!" Gabriella said, impressed.

"I did. She kind of harrumphed and waved in this direction. So I came out, got a soda and I've been sitting right here ever since."

"Do we know anyone else here?" Gabriella asked, drawing her legs up on the chaise lounge.

"Depends on your definition of 'know,'" Chad said. "For instance, Amy Sorrento is here."

Gabriella felt a twinge of jealousy. Troy had dated Amy for four months. She was part Latina, part ballerina, and all gorgeous but way too demanding, snobby, and cold for Troy. Gabriella had never understood why he liked her in the first place.

"Really?" Gabriella asked. "Is she dating Ian, like Brenda promised?"

"I haven't seen him," Chad said, shaking his head.

Amy passed them just then, but she didn't bother to glance down and acknowledge their presence. She patted her smooth bun of glossy brown hair and sailed over to Troy, greeting him with a large smile as if she hadn't dumped him only a couple months earlier.

"I hate parties," Chad said.

"I just hate these kinds of parties," Gabriella said. "Stand, hold a drink, smile painfully, looked interested in boring chit-chat, comment on the weather, avoid the subject of school, wish desperately that there were good movies to talk about, shift drink to other hand, wonder how many peanuts one can eat without looking like a ravenous hippo, nod politely, stand some more."

"Speaking of peanuts," Chad said, "check the table behind us."

Gabriella swiveled around and discovered a low plastic table (white, of course) and three trays of appetizers on it.

"Wow, excellent location-scouting, Chad," she said, snagging a pastry ball that turned out to have sausage in the middle.

"I thought so," he said with a modest nod.

After about twenty minutes, Troy finally managed to fight his way over to them.

"I can't believe you abandoned me like that," he said, flopping down on the ground next to Gabriella. He leaned back against her legs. "Do you know how many times I've had to say, 'Yeah, it _has _been hot this summer, hasn't it?' in the last ten minutes?"

"This'll make you feel better," Gabriella said, handing him a crab dumpling.

"Thanks," he said. "And thanks for the party."

"It really wasn't my idea," she said. "I'm sorry for letting you be surprised."

"It's okay," he said, "I've never been to a Brenda McKennis party, but I guess people weren't exaggerating about the food. What are those?"

"Something involving cheese," Gabriella said, passing him the tray.

"Awesome," he said. "If you can make it to the other side of the pool, there are mini hamburgers and tiny French fries to match."

"Just think," Chad said, "if you dated Brenda, all this could be yours."

_Which is exactly the point of all this, I'm sure,_ Gabriella thought. How could she compete with flawless beauty, impeccable fashion sense, and a house like this? Her little cupcakes didn't even begin to compare.

"Yeah," Troy said, "but then I'd have to date Brenda."

As if on cue, Brenda swayed her way through the crowd, and dropped a large box in Troy's lap. "Troy, darling, here's your birthday present," she purred.

"Oh," he said. "You didn't really –"

"Of course I did!" She crouched next to him, revealing a long slim line of her leg. "Open it at once."

With the expression of a guy who was pretty sure his present was about to explode, Troy hesitantly peeled the glittering gold-and-white wrapping paper off and opened the box.

"Whoa," he said. "Seriously?"

Nestled in the thin folds of crepe paper was a black leather jacket.

"Happy birthday, Troy," Brenda said with a triumphant smile. "It's all the way from Italy. And it's very expensive."

"I'll bet," Troy said. Gabriella could tell he was being uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly thrilled, herself. It would take her several lifetimes to baby-sit up enough money for a present like that.

"How did you get him a present from Italy?" Chad asked curiously.

Brenda gave him a disdainful look. "We had it in our emergency gift drawer. I think it'll fit you perfectly, Troy, dear. Let's go find a mirror and try it on! Come on, come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled. With a sigh, he climbed to his feet and followed her.

"Troy, darling," Chad said, imitating her, "come to my lair and let me tie you up."

Gabriella saw a blur of motion out of the corner of her eye, but before she could react, a pair of male arms had seized her and swung her up off her feet.

"Put me down!" she protested, shoving Riley's shoulders. He tightened his grip on her and gave her a sly smile.

"Feel like going swimming?" he said.

"No." she said. "Do _not_ throw me into the pool, Riley."

"But don't you want to cool off?" he said, swinging her dangerously low to the edge. "I think I owe you a soaking."

"You do not!" she said, struggling to get down. "We're totally even! Riley!"

"She doesn't want to get wet, man," Chad said.

"What do you know about it?" Riley said, but he put her down. She stepped out of his arm's reach, quickly. "Aw, I'm just kidding around, Gabi."

"Well, it wouldn't be funny," she said. Yes, he was kind of joking, but she was sure he would happily have dumped her into the pool without even thinking about the fact that she didn't have a change of clothes or that she'd look like an idiot in front of everyone. A wet idiot.

"Have you seen the basement?' Riley asked cheerfully. "It's totally awesome."

"Not yet," Gabriella said.

"I'll show you," he said, taking her elbow. "There's foosball and Ping-Pong and air hockey and Ms. Pac-Man and pinball –"

"Chad, do you want to come?" Gabriella said, seeing that her brother wasn't standing to follow them.

"I'm going to get one of those hamburgers first," Chad said, apparently missing the significance of her look. Gabriella sighed inwardly. Sharpay would have understood! "I'll find you in a minute."

"Okay. Bring me one, too," she said. "Soon." Riley gave her a weird look and she added, "I mean, because I'm starving – you know, totally starving."

"Sure," Chad said.

Gabriella reluctantly followed Riley down a few steps to a lower patio paved with sparkly gray stone. A set of glass doors led into a basement, which, to her dismay, was empty. She'd expected to find other partygoers in there playing games.

"Isn't it cool?" Riley said, wandering over to the foosball table. He spun a row of players around then looked up and grinned at her. "Want to play?"

Gabriella felt bad. Riley hadn't been anything but nice to her. Why did she keep feeling uncomfortable around him? Was it because he seemed to like her? Or could it be because she liked him? She tried poking that thought, but her feelings for Riley weren't anything like her feelings for Troy. Still, here was a cute guy flirting with her. She could at least be nice back.

"Okay, sure," she said, going around to the other side of the table. Riley fished a ball out of the other side pocket and dropped it.

Gabriella wasn't really good at foosball, but Riley was hilariously bad. He basically played by spinning the players around and around as fast as he could. She couldn't help laughing at him, but luckily, he didn't get offended.

She was winning 8 – 4 when a phone rang in the far corner of the room. Riley spun his players one more time and then announced, "Let's check out, Ms. Pacman."

"Oh, okay," Gabriella said. She followed him over to the arcade game, which had a place of honor in the center of the room its back against a column. Just as she got up behind him, he turned and caught her wrists in his hands.

"Gabi," he said. "Why don't you like me?"

She had been about to pull away, but when he said that, she stopped, feeling guilty again.

"What do you mean?" she said. "I do like you."

"But only as a friend – right?"

"Well…" she said awkwardly, "Riley, I'm – dating Troy." _Not to mention I'm secretly on a mission to convince him he's my soul mate_.

"Forget Troy," Riley said. "What if he wasn't in the picture? Huh? What if you'd met me first?"

"I don't know," Gabriella said. "I mean, I didn't, so – and Troy is – I'm sorry, Riley, but – "

Suddenly the door from the patio opened. Riley dropped her hands like lit firecrackers and sprang away from her as if he'd just been caught stealing diamonds.

It was Troy…and Amy Sorrento.

_**Why do we like to hurt so much?  
That's what you get when you let your heart win…whoa.  
That's what you get when you let your heart win.  
****I can't trust myself with anything but this,  
That's what you get when you let your heart win.  
-Paramore, "That What You Get"

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**_

**I'm addicted to Forever the Sickest Kid's "Whoa Oh!" I've been listening to it on repeat the past 3 hours. It's so awesome! Yeah. And I apologize in advance if the next chapter doesn't come out until the next month. "Whoa Oh! Why do I put myself in these situations?" I hope that I can get the next chapter out in no more than 2 weeks. But no promises.. and PLEASE REVIEW. It'll probably get the chapter out faster… :D hint hint. Even if I'll have to keep pushing myself even though I can't take it.**_** :)  
**_


	13. Stolen

**I'm so sorry guys. Two weeks turned into two months. Well. I wrote Cinderella. Thanks to all the people who read and favorited that! And then 2 days later, my Internet connection was out. It sucked soo bad. For a month and a week. I already finished this chapter by then and I was so bummed that I couldn't post it up. Stupid connection. When I got the Internet back though, I was so happy that a lot of you guys had reviewed! 200 reviews! WOWZA. Anyway, and then I got sick for the past week, but today I felt better so I decided to post this up. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I own NADA. The plot and the story belong to Tamara Summers and the characters belong to Disney Channel.**

_**

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He's With Me – Chapter 12  
Stolen**_

"Troy!" Gabriella said.

"Oh man," Riley said, "We're so busted."

"What – no!" Gabriella exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

Troy hesitated inside the doorway, looking confused. Amy still had one hand on the doorknob, and the other was resting lightly on Troy's shoulder as if she owned him – as if he were her car, or her horse, or her umbrella stand.

"I guess we're not going to get any privacy in here, Troy," Amy said in a murmur, that Gabriella could clearly hear.

Gabriella felt her heart sink. Troy and Amy were looking for privacy? Why? Did she want him back? More importantly…did he want her back?

She couldn't really blame him. A real girlfriend sounded much better than a pretend girlfriend who he didn't want to date at all, even if the real girlfriend was an ice queen like Amy.

What was he thinking right then? Was he disappointed that they were interrupted? And did he really think that she and Riley…?

She couldn't tell from his expressions, although she thought maybe he looked a little bit mad. There was a tense pause, and then Troy seemed to take a breath and come back to the room, blinking. He gave his shoulders a small shake that dislodged Amy's hand, and he stepped across the space to Gabriella.

"Hey," he said, and his smile made the knot of worry in her stomach melt away.

"Hey," she said back at him. He took her hand and turned to Amy.

"Amy, you remember Gabi," he said. Amy lifted her nose and looked down at Gabriella. She seemed even taller than Gabriella remembered, and she was dressed elegantly, in skinny jeans, long purple top, and a sleek silver belt. Troy had tried to bring her out with Gabriella and Chad a couple of times, but that had been a disaster. Amy clearly had no interest in talking to either of them where as Troy seemed more interested in their conversation that hers. That was a close end to their relationship.

"Yesss…Brenda told me you were dating…her." Amy said. "Is it true?"

_No,_ Gabriella thought sadly. _It's not true. If it were, this would be the best moment ever, you skinny witch._

"Yup." Troy said with no hesitation. "Gabi's my girlfriend." He shot a glare at Riley, as if that were a reminder for him too.

"That's right," Gabriella said. "He's with me." She couldn't resist giving Amy an enormous smile – a smile that said, _That's right, you lost him and now he's mine._

Still, Gabriella wondered if Troy felt as confident as he looked. The whole scheme had been for Brenda's benefit, to protect him at summer camp. He probably hadn't expected the whole entire school to find out. Now everyone, including Amy and whatever girl he'd like next, really would think that he'd dated her. Was he embarrassed by that?

The patio door opened and Brenda came in, followed by a handful of other people. One of them was Chad, who wandered over to Gabriella with a plate of food.

"It's about time you showed up." Gabriella hissed.

"Believe it or not, someone actually spoke to me," he said. "I wish I could tell you who, but it wasn't that memorable of a conversation."

"Oh, _there _you are, Troy," Brenda said. "I saw Amy whisking you away and I was like, "Oh, no, we're not going to see _them_ again for the rest of the night!'" She gave Gabriella a sly look.

"We just couldn't resist the air-conditioning." Troy said.

"Me too," Brenda chirped. "Hey, who wants to play Truth or Dare?"

There was a chorus of "Oooh, me!"'s.

"Truth or Dare?" Troy asked skeptically. "That's a little childish, don't you think?"

"Not if you play it right," Brenda said, with a coquettish smile. She plopped herself down on one of the fluffy white couches. "Come sit here with me, birthday boy." She patted the cushion next to her.

Troy glanced at Gabriella. "We can go back outside," he said in a low voice.

"Wait, I want to play," Chad interjected in a whisper. "I've never been to a part with Truth or Dare before."

"I don't think you want to play Brenda's version." Gabriella said softly to him.

"Come on guys," Chad said. "Just for a minute? Please?"

"It's up to you, Gabi," Troy said. "Whatever you decide."

"Um – okay," Gabriella said. "Maybe it might be fun." _Doubtful…but if it cheers Chad up, it'll be worth it._

Amy and Riley were already settling on the beanbags on the floor, and other people had taken the other couches and chairs. Brenda patted the cushion beside her again, batting her eyelashes at Troy.

"Scoot over," Troy said to her firmly, taking Gabriella's hand.

Brenda sighed huffily and slid to the side so Troy and Gabriella could both sit down. Chad dropped to the carpet at their feet.

"All right, I'll go first," Brenda said. "Amy, truth or dare?"

Gabriella breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She'd been sure Brenda would go after her first.

"Dare," Amy said.

"Okay," Brenda said. "I dare you to take off your shirt."

Before Gabriella could blink, Amy had unclipped her belt and pulled off the purple top. Underneath she was wearing a pink polka-dot bikini top.

"No fair!" Brenda protested. "You're wearing your bathing suit!"

"As if I would have taken off my top otherwise!" Amy said in a mockingly scandalized tone. "I'm not that much of a slut. Okay, my turn. Troy."

Gabriella's heart sank. Would she make him kiss Brenda? Or her? She didn't want her first kiss with Troy to be on a dare in front of all these people.

"Truth." Troy said.

_Also dangerous,_ Gabriella thought. _Considering how much truth we're hiding here._

"Truth," Amy said slowly. "All right. Out of all the girls in this room, who would you say was the most gorgeous. Be honest."

She and Brenda looked expectant. Of the two of them, Gabriella would probably say Amy because Brenda's gorgeousness was harder around the edges, and Amy had really long eyelashes. But of all the girls in the room, Gabriella would actually pick the redheaded girl on the sofa opposite of her. Not only was she gorgeous, but she looked nice instead of scary. Gabriella thought her name might have be Clara and she might be on the field hockey team –

"Gabi," Troy said. "Of course."

"Of course!" Brenda parroted in an offended tone. "You don't have to say that just because she's your girlfriend, you know? You're supposed to answer _truthfully_, Troy. I'm sure Gabi wouldn't want you to _lie._"

"I'm not lying," Troy said, putting his arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "I'd think she was the prettiest even if she weren't my girlfriend. I love how long and curly Gabriella's hair is, and she has the most beautiful brown eyes, and the cutest nose, and the best smile – "

"Gag me with an artificial sweetener already," Brenda said, rolling her eyes. Gabriella was sure she had turned a brilliant shade of red, but she kept her head resting on Troy's shoulder so she wouldn't have to meet anyone's eyes. Brenda waved her hands. "Fine, whatever, blah blah blah, move on. Your turn."

"Okay," Troy said. "Chad."

Chad looked pleased. He thought seriously for a moment and then said, "Dare."

"Hmmm," Troy said. "Let's see. I dare you to…" He looked around the room thoughtfully and pointed. "I dare you to kiss Claire."

The redheaded field hockey player turned pink. _Clara, Claire, I was close._ Gabriella thought.

Chad stood up awkwardly and so did Claire. He stepped over the rug and leaned forward; she leaned forward too and they ended up bumping lips more than kissing. Still, Gabriella could tell Chad was trying not to smile when he sat back down. She realized that Troy had done him a favor, especially by picking the nicest girl in the room. Amy or Brenda might have refused to kiss him, which would have been terrible.

"Chad, it's your turn to ask someone," Gabriella said, poking his shoulder.

"Right, okay," he said. "Uh – "

"And don't pick your sister," Brenda said snidely. "Act like you actually know somebody else for once."

Chad flushed. "Brenda," he said.

"Um." Chad picked at the carpet. "I dare you to tell us who the hottest guy in the room is."

"That's just a truth dressed up as a dare," Brenda complained.

"That's my dare," Chad said stubbornly.

"Fine," Brenda said. "I pick Riley. Now it's my turn. Gabi, darling, truth or dare?"

Riley was grinning. He looked for the first time like he'd noticed that Brenda was interested in him. Gabriella was surprised Brenda hadn't picked Troy as the hottest guy, but she wasn't surprised that she was the next to go. She had a feeling that that was what this had all been leading up to.

"Um, truth," she said. She didn't want to do anything Brenda might dare her to do.

"Figures," Brenda said, rolling her eyes again. "Okay, let me think." She tapped her chin with a manicured fingernail. "Gabi, Gabi. All right, tell us the truth." She leaned forward. "How long have you been in love with Troy?"

Cold prickles ran down Gabriella's spine. Now what? Should she like and say it had only been a couple of weeks? Should she tell the truth and admit that it had been years? Would Troy figure out she was lying no matter what she said? Or would her voice gibe her away?

"Go on, Gabi, tell us," Brenda said.

Gabriella's eyes went to Amy, who was pretending to look bored. Would it be embarrassing to admit that she'd liked him while he had been dating Amy? She tipped her head back and looked at Troy.

His crystal blue eyes were watching her. He leaned his head against hers and whispered, "Don't worry."

Whatever that meant, it decided her. She was going to tell the truth.

"As long as I've known him," she said, lowering her gaze to meet Brenda's.

She felt his arm tighten around her, and he rubbed her should in a way that she found reassuring.

"Aww." Brenda said. "How adorable. Or perhaps I mean pathetic."

"I don't think so," Troy said. "I feel the same way."

"Whatever. It's not your truth," Brenda snapped. "Gabi, hurry up."

"Riley," Gabriella said. A great idea had just occurred to her. If Troy did think anything had been happening with Riley, this should convince him otherwise.

"Dare," Riley said, smiling crookedly.

"I dare you to kiss Brenda," she said.

He looked surprised. So did Brenda. And so did Troy.

But Riley got up without protesting and sauntered over to their couch. As he leaned over Brenda, Troy whispered, "Let's get out of here."

She nodded and pulled herself up, tapping Chad on the shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Brenda said, shoving Riley away mid-kiss. "Troy, you can't leave your own part – it has just started."

"Sorry," Troy said. "I promised my parents I'd be home for a birthday dinner." He lifted his palms up as the others groaned. "What can I do? If I'd known about this, I would have planned differently." He helped Gabriella to her feet.

"Well, then Gabi should stay." Brenda said with narrowed eyes. "Since she didn't schedule you better."

"She's invited for dinner," Troy said smoothly. "You know…because she's my girlfriend."

Brenda scowled, and Gabriella hid her smile. How did he manage to be so perfect?

"Have fun, guys!" Troy said. "Thanks for the party!"

"Bye," Chad said with a wave. Claire wiggled her fingers at him and he blushed.

"See you tomorrow," Gabriella said. Riley half saluted at her. He looked lazy and carefree, as if their intense conversation earlier hadn't happened.

The flustered maid let them out, and as the front door closed behind them, all three let out relief sighs. Gabriella started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Chad asked.

"We're such freaks," Gabriella said. "Normal kids would be so psyched about a party but we can't wait to leave."

"That's 'cause it's a Brenda party," Troy said. "I'd rather not be normal than be like those boring old people in there. Oh, oops – I forgot my present."

"The expensive leather jacket?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, the one Brenda just so happened to have lying around," Troy said. "Quick, let's go before she realizes and chases after us with it."

"But it's your birthday," Gabriella said. "Don't you want to hang out with everyone?"

"Yes, if by 'everyone' you mean you guys."

"Sadly, I can't," Chad said "I've, uh, got stuff to do."

They had reached Chad's and Troy's cars now. Chad's car was a few cars behind Troy's.

"What stuff?" Gabriella said. "What stuff could you possibly have to do over the summer?"

"Just stuff, okay?" Chad said, defensively.

"Our hardworking friend, Chad," Troy said. "Is it film-related?"

"No." Chad said. "Maybe if I weren't such a moron, I wouldn't have to work so hard. Hey, Gabi, do you need a ride back home?"

Gabriella looked at Troy who shrugged. "Um. Sure."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll wait for you in the car."

Gabriella and Troy exchanged puzzled glances.

"Any idea what that was about?" she asked.

"Nope."

"He's been acting like that for a week. I wish he'd tell me what's going on."

Troy shrugged. "I see you're ditching me too. And I was going to ask you if you wanted to get ice cream."

"You don't really have to be home for dinner?"

"Not 'til nine." He said. "Mom's on call at the local hospital 'til then." His mother was a nurse at the local hospital. "And I assume you told yours you were going to a party."

Gabriella laughed. "She couldn't have been more excited if I'd told her I'd won an Oscar. 'My Gabi! A party!' If I'd given her time to shop, I can't imagine what she would have come up with."

"But then I'd have been suspicious," Troy said.

"Exactly," Gabriella said. "So instead, you got a shrubby T-shirts-and-shorts girlfriend.

"You mean adorable girlfriend." He grinned at her and unlocked his car door. As he closed his car door, he started the engine and drove off, giving Gabriella a small wave.

Gabriella's heart ached as she watched him drive down the block. _Why does he have to be so cute? Why can't this real? When is it going to end?_

_And…what's going to happen to me when this is over?_

_**Before the gold and glimmer have been replaced,  
Another sun soaked season fades away.  
You have stolen my heart.  
You have stolen my heart.  
-Dashboard Confessionals, "Stolen"**_

**

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REVIEW, PLEASE! I love Stolen. One of my top favorite songs. Thank you so much for waiting and reading and leaving reviews for the last chapter. 200 REVIEWS! WOW. Amazing. I hope that I could repay you guys by getting out the next chapter sooner. I'll try to work harder. For you guys. Thanks, again!**


	14. Don't Close the Book

**Life…is just hard. FOURMONTHS?!?! Wow. I'm so sorry. But I guess life just keeps getting in the way. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. No characters, no plot. Nothing. :(**

_**

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He's With Me – Chapter Thirteen  
Don't Close the Book**_

Friday morning arrived.

"Are you ready?" Troy asked as Gabriella walked down the steps of the porch.

"Ready?" she asked.

"For the pool volleyball finals!" he said. "We're going to win. Rarr!" He did a cute goofy victory dance, crashed into his bike, and tipped over the lawn. She giggled.

Both had decided to ride their bikes today because they thought that exercise would do them some good. _Not that they weren't exercising enough already,_ Gabriella thought.

"It's like I always say," Troy said from the grass. "Coordination, grace, the ability to stay upright…all unnecessary in the pool."

"I think our team would have a better chance if I _didn't_ play," Gabriella said.

"No way," he said, scrambling to his feet. "You have to play. You're essential. You're the heart and soul of our team! Besides, we need five players or Cynthia will disqualify us. You know her; she a stickler for the rules." He grinned and she smacked his shoulder.

"Oh it's nice to be so vital." Gabriella said.

As he pedaled down the driveway, she checked her shoulder bag again. Her black bathing suit, her phone, a book to read, sunscreen, and a change of clothes was all there. Why did she have a feeling that something was missing?

She must be imagining things. She waved to Chad, who was standing in his window, and took off after Troy.

During tennis, she left her bag, as usual, with the other bags over by the benches under the shelter. She could see it from the courts, but she didn't pay much attention to it, since she was focusing on trying to hit the ball.

It wasn't until the girls went into the changing room at the pool that Gabriella opened her bag again.

A sick, nervous feeling shot through her stomach.

Her bathing suit was missing!

She shoved the rest of her things aside, feeling around at the bottom of her bag. Then she sat down on the bench and dumped it out, putting everything back piece by piece.

It was definitely, definitely gone.

Her breathing seemed to have sped up and she felt on the verge of panic. Without the bathing suit, she couldn't play, which meant letting down Troy and the team. Sure, it was only a dumb volleyball game, but she would feel awful about it. And Cynthia was going to be mad. Gabriella wondered if you could get detention at camp.

"Oh, _dear,_" Brenda said, and Gabriella turned to find her leaning against the nearest mirror. "What on earth's the matter? You look so pale, Gabi, dear."

Sharpay popped her head out of a stall a few doors down, as if the tone of Brenda's voice had aroused her suspicions.

"My bathing suit," Gabriella said. "It's gone, but I'm so sure I packed it this morning…" A horrible suspicion hit her. She looked up at Brenda, whose fake concerned expressions couldn't hide the smirk in her cold blue eyes. "Did – did y-,"

"And it's your only one, isn't it?" Brenda said, sweetly. "That is _so_ sad. What _are_ you going to do? Your poor boyfriend is so excited about winning this tournament. Oh, _dear._"

"Brenda!" Sharpay said, stomping over. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Brenda said, batting her eyelashes. "Poor Gabi has lost her bathing suit. And I'm still not speaking to you. Oh, I have a _great_ idea, Gabi."

"'Great' meaning 'humiliating,' I'm sure," Sharpay said, her arms crossed.

"Why don't we check the lost and found?" Brenda said, ignoring Sharpay. She pranced over to the large cardboard box in the corner. "Maybe your bathing suite is here…or _maybe_ there's _another _one you can wear!" And with a huge smirk on her face, she yanked a bathing suit out of the box and showed it to Gabriella.

It was the most hideous thing Gabriella had ever seen. It was mustard yellow with giant bright pink flowers all over it. There were ruffles at the sleeves, ruffles around the waist, ruffles at the thigh. And it was obviously about five times too big for Gabriella.

"Perfect!" Brenda exclaimed. "I mean, considering you don't have anything else. I guess you either wear this, or you ruin everything for your boyfriend. Hmmm."

Brenda touched one of her long, manicured fingernails to her chin and pretended to look thoughtful, which on Brenda looked more like she was trying to pick a new nail color.

"Brenda, give her back her bathing suit," Sharpay snapped. "Give it back to her _now._"

"_I_ don't have it," Brenda said. I suppose you could search all over Summerlodge for it…It must be around here somewhere, right?" She smiled and Gabriella felt cold all over.

What was she going to do? She'd never get Brenda to give her the suit, and it must be hidden somewhere hard to find. But she did _not_ want to wear the yellow flowered monstrosity. If she had any chance of Troy ever wanting to really date her, his seeing her in that would definitely kill it.

Sharpay looked as worried as Gabriella felt. A whistle blew out by the pool.

"Gabi, I have to go out there," Sharpay said. Her team was up first, playing another team for third place. "You have a little while before your team has to play. You'll think of something, don't worry." She turned towards the door, then turned back towards Gabriella, and then whispered in her ear, "Ohh. And I have changed my mind. Brenda is crazy _and_ evil." She gave Gabriella a quick hug and ran out to the pool.

Brenda dropped the yellow bathing suit on the bench next to Gabriella. "See you out there," she said smugly, and strolled after Sharpay, winding her lavender towel around her waist as she left.

Gabriella picked up her phone from her bag and stared at it.

There was one other option…

She touched the yellow bathing suit and pulled back her hand with a shudder. Had Brenda planted it in the lost and found box? Was it just her luck that there really was something so hideous in there? Did that mean someone had worn it before? It gave her the shivers just thinking about wearing it.

She switched on the phone and dialed home.

She was hoping Chad would answer, but instead it was her mom's cheery voice that said, "Hello! Montez residence!"

"Hi, Mom," Gabriella said, wincing. "Um – is Chad there?"

"No, he's not, sweetie," Mrs. Montez said. "Is everything okay? Aren't you supposed to be in some activity class right now?"

"Yeah," Gabriella said slowly. Where was Chad again, in the middle of the day? If only he was there, she wouldn't have to let her mom know what she'd done with the red bikini. But she had no choice.

With a sigh, Gabriella said, "Mom, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, honey. What is it?"

"I, um," Gabriella started, "I forgot my bathing suit."

"And you have the pool volleyball finals today, don't you?" her mom asked. Gabriella could never predict what her mother would remember and what would just fly out of her brain the moment it went in.

"That's right," Gabriella said. "So I need the red bikini. Could you bring it to me?"

"Absolutely," her mom said. She sounded so pleased to be able to help. Gabriella felt extra guilty about what was going to happen next. "Where is it?"

"In my room," Gabriella said. She could hear her mom's footsteps going up the stairs, and the creak of her hinges as Mrs. Montez went into her room.

"Is it in the closet?" Mrs. Montez asked.

"Um. No," Gabriella said. "It's…under the bed."

There was a pause. Gabriella heard rummaging noises, then another pause. Finally, her mother said, "Gabi, it still has its tags on."

Gabriella could picture her mother standing in her bedroom, holding the red bikini with a crestfallen look on her face.

"I know, Mom, I'm sorry."

"You haven't worn it?"

"I've been wearing the black one," Gabriella said, "but I really want to wear that one today."

"Oh, Gabi. You don't have to wear it if you don't like it."

"I do! I mean, I need it. As soon as possible. Please, Mom?"

"I'll be right there," her mom said.

Gabriella hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. She dreaded the thought of wearing a bikini, but it couldn't be as embarrassing as the mustard yellow ruffles.

Out by the pool, Brenda was lounging on the bleachers next to Riley. She raised her eyebrows at Gabriella and made ruffling motions with her hands next to her shoulders.

Gabriella scooted up to Cynthia, who was watching the volleyball with the intensity of a bird of prey.

"I forgot my bathing suit," Gabriella said. "My mom's bringing it. Can I go meet her?

Cynthia barked, "Yes! Hurry, but don't run! And don't do it again!" without taking her eyes off the game.

Gabriella ran down the path to the parking lot, ignoring Cynthia's instructions. She had been standing there only a minute when her mother pulled in. Gabriella nearly threw herself through the driver's-side window, she was so pleased to see her.

"Thank you, Mom!" she cried. "You saved me, you really did."

"Are you sure you want this?" Mrs. Montez said, holding the bikini out of arm's reach. "We shouldn't cut off the tags if you just want to return it."

"I do want it," Gabriella said, leaning in the window. "I do, I promise. Please, please, please."

"All right," her mom said, cutting off the tags with a pair of scissors. "But Gabi, you should always tell me if I get you something you don't like."

"Impossible," Gabriella said, grabbing the bikini and kissing her mom on the cheek. "Thank you! Bye!"

She ran back across the parking lot and all the way back to the swimming pool, although she remembered to slow down as she passed Cynthia.

Had that been a surprised look on Brenda's face as she went by? Gabriella hoped so. She couldn't wait for Brenda to realize that her evil plan had been foiled. Unless, of course, the bikini looked as terrible as Gabriella was afraid it would.

She jumped into a stall and undressed quickly, carefully putting her bead necklace in the zipper pocket of her bag. The top of the bikini was a halter top, but luckily not the kind that you had to tie in the back. Gabriella was always afraid those would come undone – or, with her luck, Brenda would probably untie it while her back was turned. But this just slid over her neck, and the back was a hook that even Brenda couldn't undo without Gabriella catching her.

The bottom was simple and fit her perfectly, with a cute decorative knot tied at either hip. And the whole thing was a solid wine red, which, if Gabriella had _had_ to pick a bikini, was what she would have picked.

The whistle blew out by the pool. The first game must be over. Panic hit Gabriella again. Now she had to walk out there like this! She glanced down at her stomach and wondered what kind of girl-hating designer had come up with the idea of bikinis in the first place.

_Still better than the mustard-yellow ruffles_, she reminded herself.

The whistle blew again. Taking a deep breath, Gabriella slipped on her flip flops and ran out of the stall, grabbing at towel on her way to the pool. She had time only to glance in the mirror as she went by, but she prayed that nobody would even notice her new bathing suit.

No such luck. As she dropped her towel on the bleachers, Gabriella could feel Brenda glaring at her, as if blunt icicles were jabbing into the back of her neck. She was kicking off her flip-flops when Riley popped up beside her.

"_Dude,"_ he said. "You are so _smoking._ I _love _t Why don't you wear this suit every day?"

"Um," Gabriella stammered, "I –,"

"Oh, awesome," Sharpay said, coming up behind her and giving her a giant wet hug. "This is exactly the comeuppance Brenda deserves. For you to turn around and look so _amazing_. Holy cow."

"It's nothing," Gabriella mumbled.

"Oh, yeah?" Sharpay said. "Your boyfriend doesn't seem to think it's nothing." She pointed across the pool at Troy who was staring at Gabriella with an unreadable expression on his face. It made Gabriella nervous. He looked like he'd never seen her before in his life.

"All right, come on, people!" Cynthia yelled. "Enough chitchat! Into the pool!"

She didn't have to say it twice. Gabriella couldn't wait to get the bikini underwater and out of sight.

"I see your sinister plan, you know," Riley said, leaning over the ladder as she scrambled down it. "You're trying to distract me with your hotness so your team will win." He wagged a reprimanding finger at her.

She didn't know what to say to that. Why did he keep flirting with her? He knew about Troy. And it sure seemed like Brenda would be interested in dating him, if he'd turn his charm on her.

Luckily, she didn't have to answer because Riley slouched off to the other side of the net without waiting for a response. Gabriella slid into the water and swam over to Troy, who was holding the volleyball and looking kind of dazed.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, taking her position next to him.

"Uh, yeah," he said. "Totally okay." He shoved his wet hair back and glanced at her sideways before quickly looking away again. She decided it was maybe not the right time to tell him about Brenda and the bathing suit heist. A moment, later, Cynthia blew her whistle, and the game began.

After ten days of this, Gabriella suspected she was actually getting better. Of course, Riley and Brenda were very good, so she didn't expect to win. But Troy seemed to be playing like a possessed person, slamming the ball across the net and spiking it whenever he was close enough. A couple of times he sent the ball her way and she managed to get it over, although Riley was always there to bounce it back.

When Brenda's team reached five points, they switched sides. Riley gave Gabriella a wink as they went by, but Breda stuck her nose in the air and wouldn't even look over. She did stop to run her hand across Troy's shoulder though.

"You're doing so well, Troysie," she purred. He nodded, looking distracted, and walked away, which made Brenda's eyes get even narrower.

Finally, the score was 9-9. Troy served, and Riley punched it back. Another girl bounced it up, Troy hit it over, and Brenda slapped it like she was batting away a fly. It hung for a moment, suspended, and then fell towards Gabriella.

She jumped up to hit it and felt Troy bump her shoulder as he reached forward to knock it up again.

But it wasn't far enough. It was going to fall on their side. Gabriella dove forward, her fists connecting under the ball just before it hit the water. She sank below the surface in a spray of bubbles, and when she came back up, her teammates were hooting and hollering and the audience was on their feet, applauding.

She looked around, bewildered, and saw the ball floating on the other side of the net. It had gone over. They'd won!

"We did it!" Troy yelled, splashing over to her. "_You _did it! Woo-hoo! Gabi!" He threw his arms around her and spun her in a circle. She clutched him with a shriek, laughing. She felt giddy. She felt victorious. She felt Troy's warm arms circling her bare waist and it made her feel pretty close to fainting.

"We really won," she started to say as he put her down, but all of a sudden he seemed really close to her, and his eyes were very blue, and then his arms pulled her closer and he pressed his lips to hers and –

_He's kissing me!_

The universe seemed to spiral into one perfect, central point where his lips were touching hers, and for a moment that one spot was the only thing she could feel. Then suddenly she felt his hands pressed into her back and her hands on his shoulders, and then she remembered that they were in a pool with fifty people watching them, and then, like something was exploding in her mind, she remembered that this wasn't real, none of it was real, he was just pretending for Brenda, and that meant that this, her first kiss, her first real kiss ever, meant nothing at all.

Gabriella pulled back so fast that she slipped on the bottom of the pool and stumbled backward in the water. Troy reached for her hand to help her, but she scrambled out of reach, floundering over to the side and pulling herself out as fast as she could.

"Gabi," he said, "wait."

But she had already grabbed her towel and darted into the changing room, where he couldn't follow.

_**Please don't tell me this is the end of the story,  
Don't you close the book on me,  
Don't you close the book on me,  
We've gone our separate ways,  
We'll meet up on another page,  
Don't you close the book on me,  
Don't you close the book on me.  
-Honor Society, "Don't Close the Book"**_

__**

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Honor Society is amazing. I suggest you go check them out. Also, WHO I AM from Nick Jonas is out. Oh baby, I love him. I saw all the pics with Zac and Vanessa. And I gotta say they look cuter than ever. Anyways, please review!**


	15. Behind These Hazel Eyes

**Disclaimer: I can wish, can't I? **

_**

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He's With Me – Chapter Fourteen  
Behind These Hazel Eyes**_

Gabriella could hear Sharpay calling for her through the chaos of everyone changing, but she stayed crouched on the bench in the back until she gave up and left. Gabriella figured if she hid for long enough, everyone else would leave and then she could make her escape without anyone seeing her, anyone staring or pointing.

The whole thing had been a disaster. She would go home and tell her mother that she wanted to quit Summerlodge. Or at least she could switch to a new afternoon activity now – like Frisbee, far away from the pool and Troy and Brenda and all this torture. Maybe she would go ahead and date Riley. Even if she didn't feel the same way about him as she did about Troy, at least he seemed to really like her. She could have a real relationship instead of a pretend one and get kissed in a way that actually meant something. She hugged her knees to her chest and tried not to think about it.

Finally, the changing room went quiet. It seemed like she'd been waiting forever. She was about to stand up when she heard voices drifting over the thin wall between the stalls.

"Now I get it. It's obvious what's going on." It was Brenda. Gabriella froze. _Was it obvious? The fact that she and Troy were only pretending?_

"I mean," Brenda continued. "He clearly feels sorry for her. That's why he's doing this. It's probably a favor for her geek loser brother. But it's just cruel, because he obviously doesn't really like her that way, and she probably think he does."

A second voice mumbled something, too low for Gabriella to hear.

"Well – _look_ at her, for one thing," Brenda said. "Guys like Troy don't date girls like that. Come on, she's so awkward and quiet like she's trying to _repel_ boys. Plus, did you see how she reacted to the kiss? I told you she was a freak. Like she's too _innocent_ to kiss her own boyfriend. Poor Troy. It must be like dating a Care Bear."

Gabriella's face was burning. She pulled on her clothes over her bathing suit, trying to hurry before she heard any more.

"That was pretty lame," agreed the second voice. _A guy? What was a guy doing in the girls' changing room?_

"I expected her to be more mature about that." He chuckled and Gabriella realized he sounded familiar.

"You should have listened to me," Brenda purred. "I told you she wasn't your type. _I_, on the other hand…"

"You are exactly what guys want," said the male voice. There was a pause. Gabriella leaned against the door wondering if they were gone. She realized that what she was hearing was kissing noises. Who was Brenda kissing in the girls' changing room?

"Yes, I am what guys want," Brenda said, sounding satisfied. "Troy is going to get sick of the sweet-little-kid act pretty fast. If he doesn't break up with her this weekend, I'll – I'll – I don't know, I'll eat a whole ice-cream sundae or something."

"Why do you care so much if they break up?" the guy's voice said. Gabriella strained to hear. Who was it?

"I'm just trying to teach that girl a lesson," Brenda said, "A lesson about stealing things from Brenda McKennis. And if you really want to know the truth…" Her voice went from steely to coquettish. "I'm pretty angry that you were more interested in her than me, too."

_Riley!_

"That was dumb of me," Riley said, sounding repentant. "I didn't realize what a geek she is. If I were Troy, I'd be like, 'Okay, whatever, loser. I can go kiss some other girl who won't run away when I do it."

"Exactly," Brenda purred. "Like me."

More kissing noises. Gabriella wished to vanish to thing air and never reappear again.

"So – does this mean we're dating now?" Riley asked.

"I told you," Brenda said. "You could be my boyfriend _after_ I'm through with Troy. I need to show him that nobody says to Brenda, for _any_ reason. Don't worry. It won't be long. He'll break up with Gabi soon and I'll grab him. I'll show him how much better he could have had it, and I'll dump him so hard, he'll never date anyone in this town again." She laughed. "It'll be beautiful."

Gabriella clutched the end of the bench, trying on to make a sound. She wanted to scream and throw volleyballs at Brenda's head, but even more than that, she wanted to escape without them know she overheard.

"Poor little Gabi," Brenda said. "She's lost a bathing suit; she's lost a necklace, she's about to lose a boyfriend. Maybe she'll think twice about taking something of mine in the future, don't you agree?"

"You're so cute when you're evil," Riley said.

Their footsteps were getting farther away, and their voices quieter, but Gabriella wasn't listening anymore. Her hand flew to her neck, and then she grabbed her bag and unzipped the pocket.

Her necklace was gone.

She felt tears pushing at the back of her eyes. She had to get home before she cried. She didn't want to cry here. Brenda might find her.

Gabriella hurried out of the stall and snuck a look around the door. There was no sign of Riley and Brenda. Pressing her fingers to her eyes, she ran out of the changing room and down the path to her bike.

She was already at the Summerlodge entrance when she looked up and saw Troy leaning against the bike rack. It was too late to run; he'd definitely seen her. But she tried anyway, turning to flee back up the path.

"Wait!" he called.

She made it as far as the check-in booth before he caught up. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her to a stop facing him.

"I have to go home." Gabriella said, looking down at her feet. _I have to find a closet I can hide in for the rest of my life with an endless supply of ice cream and cable TV. That would be perfect._

"Gabi, I'm sorry," he said and the guilt in his voice brought her dangerously close to crying. "I didn't mean to upset you. I – I just –,"

"I know," she said, "You wanted Brenda to really believe we were dating. Because why _would_ she believe it? You would never date me. I'm weird and shy and I like hanging out with my brother and watching TV and playing with my dogs, and – and I've never dated anyone but you're perfect and gorgeous and funny and smart so it – it doesn't make sense and of course the only way to prove it is by kissing me, but I –," To her horror, Gabriella felt tears spilling down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands.

"I just wanted our first kiss to be real," she whispered.

"Gabriella," he said, and then his hands were on her shoulders and he pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her. She kept her hands pressed to her face, trying not to sob.

"Gabriella," he said again, his mouth pressed out against her hair so she could feel his lips moving. "You have no idea…"

"And she stole my bathing suit," Gabriela said, everything spilling out of her with her tears. "And she took the necklace you gave me and I _love_ that necklace and – and I heard her talking to Riley about what a geek I am and she's still planning to date you and dump you to teach you a lesson because she figures you'll break up with me now that you know what an immature loser I am but–,"

"Wait, wait, slow down," Troy said, taking her shoulders and stepping back a steps so he could see her face. She wiped her eyes and looked down at the ground once again. "Did you say she stole your necklace?"

Gabriella nodded, her breathing coming less raggedly now.

"That's terrible," Troy said, getting angry. "And you're _not _a geek or a loser – did Riley really agree with her?"

Gabriella nodded again. "They were kissing. I guess her plan to snare him finally worked."

"I thought he liked you," Troy said. "But listen, only a real loser would fall for Brenda's act. You know he's loser now, right? Even though – I thought maybe you liked him."

Gabriella looked up and saw his now blue-gray eyes only a few inches from hers. He was still holding on to her elbows. _A terrific close-up of red, blotchy face,_ she thought, ducking her head again.

"No, she said softly. "There only one person I like." _ There_. _Now he knows._ She took Troy's hands off her elbows and pushed them back towards him.

"I don't want to be your pretend girlfriend anymore, Troy."

She turned and ran back to the bikes. He didn't follow her, and she was able to unlock her bike and escape.

_**Here I am, once again,  
I'm torn into pieces.  
Can't deny it, can't pretend,  
Just thought you were the one.  
Broken up, deep inside,  
But you won't get to see these tears I cry,  
Behind these hazel eyes.  
-Kelly Clarkson, "Behind These Hazel Eyes"**_


	16. Still in Love With You

**TWOHUNDREDANDFIFTYREVIEWS! THANK YOU SOO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. **

**Dedicated to: ****PromisingTomorrow**_**. **_**Cuz she's amazing. And puts up with me talking about Lee DeWyze way too much. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly.

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_**He's With Me – Chapter Fifteen  
Still in Love With You**_

There was a knock on the bedroom door. It wasn't Mom's chipper _knock-knock-knock, _her knuckles bouncing rapidly off the wood. It wasn't Dad's serious, thoughtful _knock-knock,_ either. It was more of a _tappity-tap-tap_, don't-mean-to-intrude kind of knock

"Go away, Chad," Gabriella called.

The door creaked open half an inch and a small snout appeared a few inches off the floor.

"I know Thorn isn't opening that door by himself!" Gabriella hollered.

The snout nudged the door a bit and soon her pug's entire squashed was wedged in the gap. Thorn blinked, panted, and snorted, his tongue hanging nearly to the floor.

"Thorn," Gabriella said seriously. "I'm not in the mood for a face-licking, whatever Chad may have told you."

The pug grinned wider when she said his name, and as she finished her sentence, he trotted over to where she was lying on the rug and proceeded to do exactly what he had been told not to. She squealed and pushed him away, which as far as he was concerned was the beginning of the greatest game of all time: try to get to Gabriella's face before she shoves you off.

"Chadd!" She yelled, covering her face with her arms. Thorn stuck his nose between her arms and her neck and went _slurrrrrrrrrrrrrp _along her chin. "I'm busy!"

"You don't look busy," her brother said from the doorway. "You look like you're staring at the ceiling."

"I _am_ staring at the ceiling," she protested. "It's called moping. Nobody is supposed to lick your face while you're moping. It's very distracting."

"Exactly," he said, sitting on the bed. "So what are you moping about?"

Thorn climbed on Gabriella's chest, making her go, "_Oof,"_ and burrowed into her neck.

"You don't want to know," she said. "And what made you suddenly so Mom-like?"

"You mean nosy?"

"I mean cheerful."

"You tell me and I'll tell you."

She peeked over her arms at him. Thorn seized this opportunity and lunged at her forehead, but she managed to block him just in time.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "If I tell you why I'm upset, you'll tell me the big secret you've been hiding all summer?"

"It's not a big secret," he said. "But I guess, okay."

Gabriella grabbed Thorn and sat up. He settled down to lick her hands instead.

"Promise not to tell anyone," she said.

"Of course," he said. "Who would I tell?"

"True. But it has to do with Troy."

"Ah," he said, knowingly tapping the side of his nose.

"You _know_?"

"Know that he likes you?" Chad asked. Gabriella stared at him.

"No, that _I _like _him_," she said.

"I was starting to guess that, too."

"Chad, you didn't set this pretend-dating thing on purpose, did you?"

"No way," Chad said, shaking his head vigorously. "I had no idea then. You guys always acted so normal around each other. I didn't think pretending to date each other would be a big deal. Then you had that date and I was like, '_Ooohhhhh, _I _see_ how it is.'"

"Really?" Gabriella said blushing, "What is that obvious?"

"That he wants to really date you?" Chad said. "Totally."

"Stop saying that," she said, shoving his knee. "I'm the one who likes him. And now I've told him I can't do it anymore, that I don't want to be his pretend girlfriend, so I'm sure I've wrecked everything. I'm sorry." She looked down at the fluffy rug. "It'll probably make things kinda awkward for a while. Oh, why am I such a loser?" She lay back down, letting Thorn flop over her stomach. "Why couldn't I just pretend to let him kiss me and act like everything was fine?"

"Because you like each other," Chad said. "I don't know why you have to be such morons about it."

"Chad, he doesn't like me that way," Gabriella said. "I've had a crush on him forever, but you've seen the girls he's dated. I mean, Amy Sorrento? She's nothing like me. He'll be with somebody new by next week."

"I don't think so," Chad said. "Come on, I want to show you something."

"But I'm _moping._" Gabriella objected. He got up and stepped over her, and she followed, rolling Thorn on the floor. The pug snorted indignantly, shook himself, and trotted after them to Chad's room. As she passed the window, Gabriella saw that the afternoon shadows were much longer; she'd been hiding in her room for at least an hour.

Chad sat down at his computer and plugged the video camera in. Gabriella flopped on his bed, covering her head with his pillow, and sighed.

"Watch this," Chad said. "The night of your date. Remember, when we all came back here with Sharpay?"

Gabriella peeked out. The camera was on her and Sharpay. They were rolling balls of dough and getting flour everywhere. They were both laughing, with smudges of white on their faces. The camera panned over to Troy, who was pulling raspberry jam out of the fridge. As he straightened up, he looked back at Gabriella and Sharpay with a smile on his face.

"Hey, girlfriend, get over here," he said, unscrewing the top of the jam jar. "You've got a little something on your nose."

"Oh, no, do I?" Gabriella said, touching her face, getting even more flour onto it.

"Yeah, come here," Troy said, with a grin. Gabriella came around the counter and stepped closer to him. The Gabriella lying on Chad's bed could see the look on that Gabriella's face, and she thought, _Man, can't the whole world tell how in love with him I am?_

Troy leaned forward, studying her face, and then he said, "Yes, yes, there's something… right… here," and with a studious expression, he reached out and dabbed raspberry jelly on the tip of her nose.

Gabriella shrieked and jumped back, "Troy, you dork!"

Troy was cracking up, leaning on the counter for support. The Gabriella on camera plunged her hand into his hair and messed it up, leaving streaks of white flour in it.

"That'll teach you," she said, giggling and jumping out of reach again.

"Oh my gosh," Sharpay said in the background. "Chad, stop them before they get so sweet, our teeth fall out and we can't eat these cookies."

"Don't worry, it's over," Gabriella said. "Because _I won._ I'm going to go wash my face." She headed out of the kitchen, still laughing.

But the camera stayed on Troy, zooming in as he watched Gabriella go.

Gabriella in real life sat up.

"You see it, too, right?" Chad asked.

"Play it again," Gabriella said. He rewound a few seconds and once again Gabriella watched Troy watch her.

He had the same look she'd seen on her own face earlier. The same half smile, the same starry eyes. Like he wanted to chase after her and hold her and kiss her and perhaps spend every waking minute of the rest of their lives together.

Wow.

Maybe… just maybe… Troy was in love with her, too.

_**But your smile still makes my heart sing,  
Another sad song.  
I can't forget it,  
I won't regret it,  
'Cuz I'm still in love with you.  
-Jonas Brothers, "Still in Love with You"**_


	17. Thunder

**Disclaimer: If I owned this, I'd be rich by now.

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_**He's With Me – Chapter Sixteen  
Thunder**_

"Ha," said Chad. "The camera reveals all truth. I win."

"That doesn't prove anything," Gabriella said.

"Proves enough for me."

"Then why did he let me run away from him today? Why didn't he tell me all of this?"

"Maybe you didn't give him a chance."

Gabriella pulled the pillow back over her head. This was weird. This was hard to wrap her brain around. She'd spent so long convincing herself that Troy couldn't like her and would never like her, that it was incomprehensible to think he really might. It was like suddenly meeting a dolphin with wings. What was she supposed to do now?

"Okay, fine," she said, "tell me your secret."

Chad actually looked embarrassed. "It's not as good as your secret," he said.

"I don't care," she said. "Spill it."

He picked up a pencil from his desk. "I'm in summer school."

Gabriella sat up again. "Summer school? But, Chad, you're so smart."

"Yeah, right," he said. "I failed math last semester."

"No way!" Gabriella said. "Why didn't you tell me? How did I not know this?"

"It wasn't exactly something I wanted to talk about," Chad said.

"But I'm your sister! You'd think I would have noticed. I feel like such a bad sibling."

"It's okay. I asked Mom not to tell you. That's why I'm not at Summerlodge with you."

"Suddenly it all makes sense. Chad, you could've just told me. I still think you're smart. Now I just think there's something wrong with our high-school grading system."

"There is," Chad said with a smile. "They have this crazy notion that we should be taking notes on geometry instead of building model airplanes."

Gabriella searched his face. "But you don't seem upset anymore, like you have been the last couple of weeks."

"Yeah," he said, tugging a sheet of paper out from under the camera. "Look."

It was a math quiz. A bright red 100 percent was emblazoned at the top.

"Ms. Campbell says that I just need to focus, but that I'm very bright," he boasted.

"Well, I could have told you that anytime, you loser." Gabriella said, batting his head with the quiz. "You didn't have to be a major grouch for two weeks to find that out."

"Sorry I didn't tell you."

"Sorry I didn't tell you about Troy."

"That's okay. If you told me too much of that stuff it would get a big girly for me."

Gabriella glanced behind him at the screen, where the camera was now focused on Sharpay, who kept looking up at it and laughing.

"Hmm," she said, raising her eyebrows up at Chad. "Maybe the camera does reveal all truth."

"Shut up," he said, flicking it off.

"You should ask her out!" Gabriella said. "She would totally say yes."

"Yeah, right." He said.

"Would you rather pine over her for a few years like I've been doing?" Gabriella said.

"You've been pining over Sharpay Evans?" Chad joked.

She threw his pillow at him. "I think she likes you," she said. "She's much more normal than we thought. It can't hurt to ask."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered.

"I could ask her for you," Gabriella teased in a singsong voice.

"Don't you dare!" Chad said, picking up Thorn and shoving him along the bed at his sister. Gabriella shrieked as Thorn knocked her over and started covering her face in doggy kisses.

"_What_ is going on here?" Mrs. Montez asked from the doorway. Alanna poked her nose in, too, wagging her tail.

"Chad threw Thorn at me!" Gabriella squealed, wrestling Thorn under her so she could pin him down. The pug snorted and finally lay still, panting happily.

"She totally deserved it," Chad said. "Hey, Mom, look." He held up the quiz.

"Oh!" Mrs. Montez said with a quick glance at Gabriella.

"It's okay. I told her." Chad said.

"That's great, honey," the siblings' mom said, coming over and taking the quiz from him. "This is terrific."

"Guess I'm not so dumb after all," Chad said.

"Duh," Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Of course you're not dumb," Mrs. Montez said, tousling his hair. He ducked away from her hand but smiled.

"Gabi, how was the volleyball game?" her mom asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Gabriella's face fell. She'd nearly managed to forget for a moment all the horrible events of the day.

"Oh, you lost?" her mother asked sympathetically, patting her knee.

"No, we won," Gabriella said. She could tell there were awkward questions coming, so she said quickly, "Thanks for bringing me the bikini. It fits perfectly."

"Really?" her mom beamed.

"Yeah, you totally saved me. I think I'll take Thorn and Alanna for a walked," Gabriella said, scrambling to her feet. She wanted to think about Troy, and she didn't want her mom to ask about him, because she'd have no idea what to say. _We broke up? We were never really dating? I still really to date him?_ It was too complicated. She needed to think.

"All right," Mrs. Montez said. "And by the time you get back, your father should be home, so we can go out to celebrate Chad's quiz grade."

"And Gabi's volleyball win," Chad said loyally.

"Absolutely."

Gabriella bundled Thorn off the bed and grabbed her sandals from her room, the dogs trotting excitedly behind her. Downstairs, she dug out their leashes from the basket by the door, hooked them onto their collars, and opened the door to the porch.

Troy was sitting on her front steps.

_**Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer,  
Do you know you're unlike any other?  
You'll always be my thunder.  
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors,  
I don't wanna ever love another.  
You'll always be my thunder.  
-Boys Like Girls, "Thunder"**_


	18. I'm Yours

**Dedicated to: All of you amazing reviewers and the ones who favorited this and story alerted it. You guys are incredible, amazing, indescribable, etc.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story. Just my love of Troy and Gabriella. And Lee DeWyze. No one could forget him. :)

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_**He's With Me – Chapter Seventeen  
I'm Yours**_

Gabriella would have jumped back inside, but Thorn and Alanna were already galloping over and climbing on Troy with enthusiastic yips.

"Hey guys," he said to them, tugging on their ears. His cute smile made her want to gallop over there and climb on him herself. He looked up at Gabriella. "Going for a walk?"

"Um – yeah," she said. What could she say – no they weren't? The dogs put leashes on themselves?

"Can I come?" he said, standing up straight and sort of awkwardly slouching against the porch railing.

She looked down at the leashes in her hands, blushing. Wouldn't he rather go inside and hang out with Chad?

"I guess, okay," she said. She handed him Alanna's leash, and their fingers brushed as he took it from her.

The dogs scrambled madly down the porch, yanking Gabriella and Troy along with them. They turned left out of the gate and the pugs led the way down the street, snorting and panting and sniffing at everything.

After a moment, Troy said, "Want to hear something funny?"

"Sure," Gabriella said.

"After you left, I saw Riley's dad picking him up. Riley said that he wanted to quit tennis and switch to lifeguard training, and his dad started yelling at him that this is what he'd signed up for, that they'd paid for a tennis racket and lessons, and dagnabbit, he was going to stick with the whole program for once and not quit when things got tough like he always did. They were still shouting at each other when they pulled out of the parking lot."

Gabriella couldn't hid her smile. "Poor Riley."

"Poor Riley! I'd say he deserved it after what he did to you."

"He really didn't do anything to me." Gabriella glanced at Troy, and then looked back at Thorn. "I wasn't interested in him. I don't care that much about what he said. I know he's one of those guys who let girls like Brenda yank them around and tell them what to think."

"An idiot, you mean," Troy said.

Gabriella smiled at him. "Not like you."

There was a pause, and then they both started to say something at the same time.

"Go ahead," Troy said, but before she could, Thorn lunged at the bushes as Alanna sprinted into the park. The leashes tangled together and around Gabriella.

"Thorn, get back here," Gabriella said, tugging on him.

"Whoops," Troy said. "Here." He unwound his leash and lifted it over Gabriella's head. For a moment, his arms reached around her, and she closed her eyes. _If only…_

"Let's set them loose," Troy said. She opened her eyes to find him kneeling next to Alanna. "That'll solve this tangling problem."

"Okay," she said, pulling Thorn closer so she could unclip his leash.

They herded the dogs into the fenced dog run and then shut the gate. Thorn ran to the other end and then back while Alanna sat and looked up at them, panting.

"Can we sit down for a minute?" Troy said. He pointed towards the fountain.

Gabriella nodded. She didn't trust her voice enough to speak. She suddenly remembered something…something she said two weeks before. Had Troy remembered it, too?

They sat down on a bench where they could still see the dogs. The sun was setting, turning the sky and the clouds pink, gold, and purple. The drops of water in the fountain sparkled as they caught the fading light.

Troy took a deep breath. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out something, and put it in Gabriella's hand.

It was a small, red origami whale. On the side facing her, he had written, '_Gabi…_'

She turned it over. The other side read, '_Will you be my girlfriend…for real?_' She looked up in surprise and found Troy's blue eyes only a few inches from hers. He reached over and took her free hand.

"Before you answer," Troy said. "I want to tell you how sorry I am about the last couple of days. I didn't know Brenda would be so awful to you. I'll get you a necklace, an even better one, I promise. I didn't know how horrible she could be." He looked down at her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. "And I didn't know that I'd end up falling for you."

Gabriella opened her mouth, but he put his fingers on her lips to stop her.

"I'm crazy about you, Gabriella Montez." He said and he let down his hands so that both of his were holding hers. "I think I always have been, but maybe I was too dumb to know it. I want to do all those things fore you that I never wanted to do for my other girlfriends, like buy you flowers and call you every night and tell you your beautiful and stuff."

"But – really?" she said. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I guess it kinda caught me by surprise," he said. "It took me a while to figure out that I really liked pretending to date you. And when I thought about anybody else dating you – like Riley – it made feel all weird and mad and crazy inside. Is that dumb?"

Gabriella shook her head, remembering how she had felt when he started dating Amy.

"And I'm sorry I kissed you at the pool," Troy said, "but I swear it wasn't because Brenda was watching. I forgot she was there – I forgot anyone else was there. You have no idea how cute you are in that bikini, Gabi. And I'd been wanting to kiss you for days and I guess… I guess I kind of forgot we were only pretending. But I'm sorry if you hated it."

"I didn't hate it," Gabriella said, looking down at his hands holding hers. "That the problem – I liked it too much, and I thought I wasn't supposed to."

"Then perhaps I'm not sorry," he said. They smiled at each other.

"So," he said, "maybe I've been kind of an idiot up until now, but I kind of thought maybe you were feeling the same way about me."

"Yes," she said.

"Yes, you feel the same way, or yes, I've been an idiot?"

Gabriella laughed. "Both," she said. "But I like you like that."

Her heart was beating so fast and so loudly, she was sure he could hear it. Troy touched her cheek. "Good." He said, and he smiled.

Then he leaned in and kissed her.

And this time, it was absolutely real… and absolutely perfect.

_**I fell right through the cracks,  
And I'm trying to get back.  
Before the cool done run out I'll be giving it my bestest,  
And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention,  
I reckon, it's again my turn,  
To win some or learn some.  
But I won't hesitate, no more, no more.  
It cannot wait.  
I'm yours.  
-Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours"

* * *

**_

**It's finally complete. Please review, my lovely readers.**


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